The Truth About Love
by ashl3yfor3v3r
Summary: Angelina wants what she wants and she will have him, at all costs. Maybe Alicia needs to learn that, or maybe she just wants to be worth enough to someone not to have to work for it. And Katie will love quietly in the shadows, and maybe that's where she'll end up keeping her heart forever.
1. Coming to an Ultimatum

The Truth About Love- Chapter 1

_**This is my first Harry Potter fic, so please please please give me a chance.**_

The Great Hall was buzzing with conversation as students filed out the doors. Prefects called for first years and somewhere the Head Boy and Girl were shouting directions. The feast had ended and everyone was sleepy and full.

"I am so tired!" Alicia said as she stumbled out the doors of the Great Hall.

"Clearly." George caught her shoulder as she tripped over someone's foot.

"I am too excited to be tired!" Angelina was beaming. "I turned seventeen last Tuesday! I can't wait for the tournament to start!"

Fred stopped to give the Fat Lady the password before they all stepped into the common room. "Well if we don't get in I hope you do. It's bad enough Cedric Diggory beat us last year, he is _not _going to be the Hogwarts champion. Not if I have anything to say about that."

"And what are you going to say?" Alicia asked skeptically.

Fred and George gave her identical scheming smiles. "Oh, something along the lines of Aging Potion, Disillusionment Charms, Polyjuice Potion or Confundus Charm."

"Well good luck on that, Polyjuice Potion is a highly difficult potion, and if you poison yourself I'm sure Snape would be all too happy to let you die." Angelina said as they climbed the stairs up to their dormitories.

Ignoring her, they turned to Lee. "Well mate, are you in?"

"I'm so tired, and I can't fall asleep in class tomorrow or I'll be in trouble before we even get our first homework assignments." Alicia yawned. "So goodnight."

"'Night" The boys replied.

They split off into their dormitories. Lee, Fred, and George were on the right side still discussing ways to fool the judge of the Triwizard Tournament. Alicia sleepily shuffled into her dorm behind Angelina.

The other four girls in their dorm, Caroline, Jillian, Kim and Tina were already fast asleep. Alicia collapsed on her bed without changing into her pajamas and hugged her pillow. Next to her Angelina was changing into her checkered pajama shorts and an oversized t-shirt. She sat down on the bed afterwards, looking deep in thought.

"Hey Alicia?" Angelina whispered as she lay down on the bed, facing Alicia's.

"Hmm?" Alicia turned to face her and yawned again.

Angelina absently stroked her teddy bear. On the first day of school she had individually cornered each of her roommates to make sure no one else found out. Usually a very competitive, tom-boyish, and sometimes cold person, she figured that no one would take her seriously ever again if they knew she still slept with a teddy bear.

"Do you think… do you think I should just forget about all this? And just pretend I don't feel anything special? I mean… I'd rather have him be my unwavering best friend and hide my feelings than have it out there reminding us things will never be the same." She pulled the sheets and blankets up to her shoulders.

Alicia opened one eye and looked at her for a moment before answering. "Seeing as this is Fred we're talking about I'd go with the first choice. He makes a better best friend than a boyfriend. Of course I can't exactly speak from experience, but it really depends on the person."

Apparently this was all the advice Angelina was going to get for the night because Alicia dozed off to sleep, leaving her to wonder for herself.

For a year now Angelina had been having second thoughts about this. She had always been good friends with Fred, but the summer prior to the one that had just ended everything had suddenly changed. Fred had come to visit her and they spent a whole two weeks without Angelina's friends or Fred's twin, who had opted to visit Charlie in Romania. The time spent with him had changed how she felt about him.

In the thirteen sticky-hot days spent racing through empty country, rolling down the hills blanketed with soft grass, lying in endless fields of flowers as they took turns asking each other questions about things that a shocking six years of friendship had still yet to uncover, Angelina found something special. There was a new feeling that seized her heart, causing it to accelerate every time she saw him.

Somehow, she couldn't forget the magical romance that came with humid summers and open country land she had shared with him. Maybe he didn't know it, with a sudden jolt of nostalgic pain she realized he might never realize what had happened those few days, but Angelina had held onto every moment of it.

As the summer days became shorter and the first of September finally rolled around she was coming to an ultimatum: Should she heed to the feelings and listen to her heart, in turn risking rejection and heartbreak she knew she couldn't handle… or understand that her summer romance could be seasonal, like so many others, and keep the close friendship she knew she couldn't survive without?

Angelina looked at the pictures set on her nightstand. One of them showed her with Fred and George, all of them laughing and smiling. She was in the middle, both of them had an arm around her shoulders. It was funny how she had chosen Fred over George. She used to think that between the two of them, Fred was the more outspoken, competitive, and open twin. Both of them possessed the same qualities that made everyone like them, but George was less open, unlike Fred there were things that couldn't be inferred from his words or expressions.

Sometimes it was this difference between the two of them that Angelina had liked about George. But after the summer, she had come to realize that Fred was if anything more secretive than George. He wasn't the open book she had once come to think he was. It was this sort of contrast between what people thought he was, and who he really turned out to be that Angelina had found in herself and found so attractive about him.

The higher level of understanding they were able to communicate on had created the biggest difference between her relationship with Fred and George. While sometimes she felt that they were really the same person, she felt herself being drawn closer to Fred, while leaving the rest of the world behind, George on it.

_Ugh, this is too complicated, _Angelina thought. _I'm the last person anyone would expect to be thinking about this kind of thing._

She turned over and tried to ignore the thoughts so she could get some sleep.

. . . .

"Morning!" Alicia said brightly as she pulled the covers off Angelina's bed.

It was seven thirty in the morning and she had already gone and woken up the other girls in the dorm, a routine that had been established from their very first year. Alicia was already dressed in her uniform of a black skirt, red blouse, with her red and gold tie under black robes, which she had the Gryffindor symbol embroidered on. She parted the curtains all around the dorm and opened the windows to let in some fresh air.

"Rise and shine Angie!" Alicia chirped, making the bed. She was usually happiest in the morning, before all the classes had started.

Jillian giggled. "Alicia where would we be without you? Our personal alarm clock."

All the girls laughed. Angelina threw on a random red shirt, black jeans and her cloak before running a brush through her tangled hair. Hogwarts wasn't particularly strict about the uniform, black bottoms, and a shirt that was white, black, or the color of your house. While the rest of the girls were careful about their appearance, Angelina could care less.

"Do I look okay?" Caroline asked the girls, sliding a bobby pin into her hair. Kim pulled a blue thread off the back of her red sweater and the girls nodded their approval.

Alicia slid on several gold bangles and put on red earrings with lions on them, to emphasize their support of Gryffindor. Angelina noted that she looked especially pretty, she always dressed nicely, but she hardly ever accessorized. "Is there a special occasion?" She asked.

"It's always good to look nice on the first day." Tina said, massaging moisturizer onto her face, which all the girls had noted was enviously smooth and blemish free.

Jillian agreed, "Definitely, people usually notice others more on first and last days." She smoothed down her golden blond hair.

Unable to remember a time that she thought it necessary to prep for as long as her roommates did, Angelina made her bed and finished unpacking. The first night she had only taken out pictures, Teddy, and her pajamas. By the time the other girls were ready, a good thirty minutes later, she already had most of her trunk emptied out into her dresser, which was charmed so that it could hold more things than three tiny drawers would be expected to.

"Woah, blimey!" Lee Jordan stopped dead in the doorway of his dorm, staring at the girls, wide-eyed and mouth gaping.

George elbowed him out of the way and raised his eyebrows. "You girls look nice."

Angelina rolled her eyes, "Are you going to stare at them all day or can we go eat?"

By the time the group made it to dinner Angelina was starting to wish she had put more effort into her appearance, since eyes were following the other girls as they made their way through the Great Hall to their seats. "Why so glum?" Fred asked, as she speared a piece of sausage.

She shrugged. "No reason."

"It's not like you to care about what other people think about your appearance." He commented lightly. Angelina concentrated on pouring her pumpkin juice. "You look great the way you are anyways, but I guess that's just my opinion."

An unwilling blush crept into her cheeks. "Thanks, that… means a lot."

An elated feeling made her heart flutter and she animatedly joined the conversation.

. . . .

The first class of that day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which everyone was excited about. Mad-Eye Moody was known to be a good Auror and likely more competent than Lockart or Quirrel had been. Rumors were flying about what he had brought for their first class. By the time they made it to the class, having snagged the front row seats, whispers of dementors being in the class were traveling around the classroom.

The rumors were only half right. Moody had told them of the curriculum they would be quickly covering, which included knowledge of the Unforgivable Curses, resisting the Imperius Curse and Confundus Charm, learning the basics of Occlumency to be gone in depth their seventh year, sharpening senses to be able to pick up traces of Dark magic, and possibly learning more advanced defense charms such as the Patronus.

The first lesson had already started them on the vigorous track of learning. After a demonstration of the Unforgivable Curses he split the class into pairs to learn how to protect the mind. One partner was to put the other under a Truth Spell, which enabled them to prod the other person's mind for the answer to a question they asked a loud, while the other tried to block their partner from seeing their thoughts.

"This is impossible!" Alicia cried after she admitted that she thought Roger Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was unbelievably gorgeous, and confirmed it three times to a very angry Angelina. "And stop asking me that! Everyone thinks he's hot!"

"Yeah but he's the _Ravenclaw _team captain, you can't go around fancying him!"

After that Alicia partnered with George, leaving Angelina with Fred.

"Ladies first." Fred said with mock politeness.

"Fine." Angelina said.

"What's your favorite place in the whole world?" He raised his wand and cast a nonverbal Truth Spell.

Angelina tried to focus on keeping her mind blank, but the sheet of white was interrupted by flashes of color. _Focus, focus, focus, focus!_ Her determination gave way as a short memory was forced to her mind.

"_This is where I come when I just want to think." _

_The two of them were lying in a field of white daisies. They were in the middle of a large field, that stretched as far as they could see from where they were. Angelina looked up at the clouds, noting the beautiful weather, which they had previously taken advantage of by racing through the empty country on broomsticks until they reached the spot._

"_What do you think about?" Fred turned to face her, his hazel eyes focused on her._

"_Anything, anything I want. My mind's free to wander, sometimes I think about Hogwarts, sometimes Quidditch, and sometimes I think about you guys, and what you would do without me." She laughed._

"_And do you think about me?" _

_A butterfly landed on her cheek and she put her finger out and it crawled on. She turned to him and transferred it onto his nose. They both laughed._

"_Of course I think about you."_

Then the image of them faded away until it was taken place by the classroom. Fred still had his wand pointed at her, with a slightly confused expression on his face that he quickly changed into the usual teasing smile.

"And why wouldn't you?"

Angelina laughed nervously, glad that he was willing to laugh it off. Fred extended his hand to help her off the floor; the force of his spell had caused her to fall and crash into a desk. He put the desk back in place.

After class they headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Don't you have a class to go to?" Lee asked.

"Nope." Alicia answered. "We failed our Divination O.W.L.s. Oh and we dropped Muggle Studies and History of Magic, we were drowning in unfinished homework. So without Quidditch and a considerably lighter load of homework, everything should be much easier."

"Great! Who's up for Exploding Snap?" Lee said enthusiastically.

Angelina looked out the window at the clear blue sky. "No, you go ahead. It's such a great day to fly and I've been in Paris all summer, you don't get many chances to fly in Muggle-crowded cities. Does anyone want to come with me?"

She caught Fred's eye and for a moment she wondered if he would remember all the times they had flown together that summer. Her heart raced, thinking about soaring through the stretched expanse of blue sky with their laughter echoing in the empty hills. "Sure, it'll be good to get some fresh air before we descend to the dungeons for double Potions later."

. . . .

Five minutes later Angelina and Fred had kicked off the field of the Quidditch pitch and were rising up in the air. Having been in a crowded city all summer it was a great relief to be back outdoors and breathe in the fresh air. She spiraled up into the sky, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Are you up for a race?" She asked, flying in circles around him at a dizzying pace.

"You're on." Fred shot off like a bullet from a gun.

"Just like old times." Angelina was speeding along next to him with ease. She laughed, and the sound echoed on the grounds. Her dark hair was streaming behind her and the light danced in her eyes, instantly transforming her.

Fred gave her a wry smile. "Exactly." He leaned forward and flew on ahead of her, swooping over the Whomping Willow and weaving through its branches.

"If I remember correctly," Angelina pulled up next to him. "then that means I'm going to win this race by a landslide."

"Clearly you remembered wrong." Fred replied, with his trademark smirk.

Both of them soared over the greenhouses, causing many first years to drop their Mandrake's in surprise as they watched them dive down towards the glass roof, only to pull up at last second and glide on ahead. Angelina managed to get ahead of him when they reached the Hufflepuff tower. She did two successive flips and stuck her tongue at him as she accelerated.

With Fred now close behind him she weaved through the statues of the four founders of the school perched atop the Astronomy tower. By the time they reached the lake he had zoomed ahead of her. He looked down and leaned forward, preparing himself for a steep dive. Just before impact he straightened the angle of his broom.

He looked behind at a slightly angry looking Angelina and gave her a well-you-asked-for-it look as he skimmed over the surface, his fingers trailing in the water. The giant squid raised its tentacles out of the lake, reaching for them. They skillfully dodged and ducked its suckers and with the wind whipping their faces, continued on flying.

They flew another lap around the school grounds before the sparkling lake came back to view. "Catch me if you can!" Angelina, now ahead of him once again, yelled.

"I'll have to take you up on that invitation." Fred leaned forward, urging his broom to go yet even faster.

He rocketed forward and drew level to her, smiling and showing off his even white teeth. Unable to go any faster, Angelina rolled her eyes and leaned to the left, forcing him to one side. If he felt any awkwardness about the fact that her body was pressed against his as they angled off course towards the edge of the lake, Fred didn't let on. He cut across her path and flew ahead of her.

"Playing dirty are we?" He gave her a smug look. "I didn't know you'd have to stoop that low Ange."

Angelina narrowed his eyes at him, now slits of anger. "I—told—you—to—NEVER CALL ME ANGE!" Her broom shot forward.

Not even bothering to notice the fact that they were flying over a lake inhabited by a giant (and giant meaning big for a giant) squid, she tackled him. After falling in what felt like slow motion, they were submerged into the cool waters. A large pink tentacle wrapped itself around them, forcing their heads to collide painfully, and threw them out of the water.

Slightly dazed, Angelina sat up. A second later their broomsticks flew out of the water. Fred caught his and ducked as hers whacked her in the head. "Are you okay?" He asked, stifling a laugh.

"Fine, but you aren't going to be!" She punched his shoulder. "How many times— do I have to tell you—" She continued to pummel him. "I hate, _hate, _it when you call me that!" She continued hitting him. Fred continued laughing and she shoved his chest, so that he was lying on the grass, with her leaning over. "Oh, shut up!"

"Give it up, Ange." She glowered at him. "Sorry, Ang_elina_, but you know I still beat you, trying to get the squid to finish me off didn't change that."

Both of them laughed and Angelina lay down next to him in the shade of the large tree they were under.

"Hey Fred! Angelina!" Both of them looked up to see Caroline leaning out of the small window in their dorm. She giggled. "You have fifteen minutes until Double Potions, you should probably hurry on back."

"Thanks Caroline!" Angelina yelled back. "We better go."

"See you in class." Fred mounted his broom and flew up to the large open window of the common room and disappeared.

Angelina flew to the window that the other girls were probably spying through. Indeed, when she threw the curtains open Alicia and Caroline jumped back guiltily and looked sheepish. "I so saw that." She said, pulling off her wet robes.

"Well we'll see you in Potions." Alicia and Caroline walked out. "But you are _so _giving me details later!" Alicia whispered as she passed.

Angelina changed into dry clothes and stuffed her books into her bag. Smiling to herself, she hurried out of their dorm down to the dungeons for Potions, where disaster was awaiting her.

_**Please let me know what you think, even if you hate it. My English is American though, so I wasn't sure which words were supposed to be spelled differently or changed, please don't hold it against me! Please review!**_


	2. Moment of Triumph

The Truth About Love- Chapter 2

_**Thank you skateboard c, xxVero-Amorexx, 4is, and danalexkayarimad for their reviews!! I know a lot more of you read the story though (I checked the traffic 33 people didn't review :(, and it would be a lot more helpful if more of you reviewed. But anyways, here's chapter two.**_

"I—absolutely—hate, _hate, _wait no… I loathe and despise Snape." Angelina said as she angrily cut a piece of chicken. She suddenly hiccupped a cloud of bubbles. "Absolutely, positively, despise him." She said again.

Fred, George, and Alicia looked at her, amused. The first half of double Potions had been on classifying potions and Snape had given each of them four vials of colorless and odorless liquid. They were given forty minutes to find the one that was plain water. Fred and George had picked water on pure luck, and Alicia had been the only one in class who got full credit (since Snape despised the Hufflepuffs too) for being able to identify all four potions and explain how she found out.

"Cheer up." Fred said. "We have another free period before dinner, why don't we play three-on-three Quidditch?" He added with a joking smile, "I promise you can be on my team." He threw his arm around her.

Angelina hiccupped again, and a few first years looked at her curiously. She took a deep breath. "I am going to control myself. I will not curse them into oblivion."

"At least you're not emitting green steam." Alicia said. Lee had also chosen the wrong vial, and a number of students in their class were also croaking like frogs.

"What happened to you two?" Katie asked, giggling, as she sat down next to Fred.

"Double Potions." Alicia answered. "Only half way through. We're identifying poisons next."

Angelina groaned. "Oh joy."

"None of you have been in the hospital wing yet, so be happy about that." Katie forked a piece of ravioli. "Besides, Alicia tells me you haven't got much homework yet. I have a three foot essay for History of Magic, two star charts for Divination, a diagram and eighteen inch essay for Herbology, which was not fun, Venemous Tentaculae bite painfully, but at least I got to skip Potions while Madam Pomfrey yelled at me for not being careful. Please, as if I really want to be in the hospital wing on the first day back!"

George laughed. "You need cheering up too."

"Believe me I do. The O.W.L. lectures are deeply depressing." She said. "Pass the iced tea please."

"We're going to play Quidditch after dinner, you can be on our team, me and Angelina." Fred passed her the pitcher of iced tea.

Angelina's heart skipped when he said _me and Angelina_. It was silly really, but she felt better.

"Ooh I so want to, but I've got tons of homework, and I can't play with this." She held up her left arm, which was covered in bandages.

"We're probably going to get loads from Snape too." Angelina said. "We'll be studying after dinner. Please? If I get stuck with him on my own I might very well go insane." She playfully shoved him with her shoulder.

Katie sighed. "Oh I guess. But if I end up in the hospital wing _again _then I will blame _you._ It was bad enough being in there as the first person on the first day, I'd hate to make it a double record. Oh just think, she was already barking mad when I went in earlier and if she finds out that I broke my arm playing Quidditch she'll explode."

"At least Lockart's not around to 'fix' things." Lee said. "Remember when Harry ended up without the bones in his right arm?"

Everyone laughed. "Oh my gosh, I so remember that." Alicia said. "Poor Harry, I'm so glad Lockart left."

"Really? I remember you used to draw hearts around his name in your notebook." George said casually, but with an air of knowing.

Alicia's smile faded. "You draw cartoons of you and the same girl on your Transfiguration notes."

"You just about fainted when she walked into class and saw him in person." George brought up. "Didn't you?"

Alicia scowled at him. "Yeah well Marina Ellis dropped all her stuff and screamed."

"You were speechless the whole class, you couldn't even tell him your name when he asked." George argued.

"You knocked over a pitcher of pumpkin juice when Selina Everheart smiled at you." Alicia slammed down her water down so hard that it splattered all over Katie. She glowered at George, which made her look a bit scary. Katie gave Angelina a look and dabbed at her shirt. "Sorry." Alicia said quietly.

George smirked. "Of course."

"Not you!" Alicia yelled. "Gosh you are SO full of yourself!" She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Great Hall.

They fell silent for a minute, in which everyone ate awkwardly and tried to make as little noise or movement as possible. Then Angelina said, "Well, don't say you didn't deserve it."

George stared at her darkly. "That was harsh. Uncalled for. Not to mention brutal. What did I do?"

Angelina and Katie groaned. "Oh George." Katie shook her head and bit into a strawberry. "George, George, George."

"What?!" He demanded.

"You're pathetic!" She threw her hands up. "Are you blind?!"

"Well I don't think so, because I don't get it either." Lee said, looking dumbfounded.

Katie looked from George to Lee in disbelief. "Okay, this makes you blind _and _stupid. Well, it's not as if we haven't known that for years, but I really didn't know it was _this _bad! Do you really have no idea what just happened?"

"Um no, maybe you could go ahead and explain the mad things girls do." George said, looking annoyed.

"Excuse me?" Katie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm done." Angelina said loudly, cutting across them. "I have twenty minutes, so I'm going to see if Madam Pomfrey has an antidote to pop all these bubbles."

"I'll come with you." Fred said, grabbing his books. Alicia glared at him. "You know… just in case…" Alicia crossed her arms. "In case she gets attacked in the corridors, we wouldn't want that to happen would we?"

"Me too." Lee hurriedly clumped his stuff together.

"Oh no, you stay." Katie grabbed his wrist and glared at George.

"Well see you!" Angelina and Fred quickly walked away.

"That was close." Fred said.

"Definitely," They were out of the Great Hall now.

They looked at each other and then burst out laughing. The sound of Katie yelling echoed and traveled out of the Great Hall. "Please Fred, attacked in the corridor? I'm a big girl, I'll take care of myself. I've never known you to be much of a gentleman anyways." She headed up the stairs.

"Hey, what's what supposed to mean?" Fred blocked her way. "I am charming, witty, clever, chivalrous, and not to mention good-looking."

Angelina laughed. _I won't argue with that_, she thought just to herself. "Oh please, you're just as full of yourself as George is. Don't make me report to Katie."

Fred feigned horror. "Oh you wouldn't!"

Angelina ducked under his arm, "Of course I would," skipped two steps, and continued up the stairs.

"Not so fast!" He spun her around to face him. Angelina couldn't help realizing how much taller he was now. Even though he was three steps below her, she had to look up at him. "I can't let you go thinking that I'm some kind of horrible, mean, evil, sneaky person can I?"

With each adjective he took a step up and Angelina took a step back. "All right, you get one chance to prove yourself before I decide if Katie should destroy you."

"Great." He swiftly stepped up ahead of her and offered his hand. "Shall we?"

Angelina laughed and shook her head. "Forget it, I liked you the way you were before, but if you're willing to go walking through the dangerous corridors then come at your own risk."

So they walked to the hospital wing together. When they arrived a number of people from Potions were leaving. A few first years were knocked unconscious by Mandrakes. Others were sporting bites Angelina assumed were from Venemous Tentaculae.

"Oh no, don't tell me you picked the wrong potion too." Madam Pomfrey was bustling around. "I just let them go!"

"Uh, sort of." Angelina sat down next in a chair.

Fred lay down on the empty bed next to her and stretched his arms to check his watch. "So, what are the chances we get to skive off the rest of Potions?"

"I don't know, she'll have to fix the people who got bitten by Venemous Tentaculae, otherwise their limbs will start falling off. Then I suspect she thinks that getting the first years back to class is more important since their teachers will be more likely to worry." Angelina looked around. "Hey, is that Marcus Flint?" The burly Slytherin had a watermelon in place of his head.

"Yep." Fred said. "He tried to sneak up on us so I hexed him."

Angelina laughed. "Wow, nice one. You didn't get in trouble?"

"No, he can't really talk and we left before anyone saw us. Snape is convinced that it was a punishment from Moody. Did you hear he turned Malfoy into a ferret? What I would give to see him…"

Angelina nodded. "Yeah, people were talking about it during lunch."

"He's mad alright, but his class was pretty interesting." Fred said.

"Um yeah." She could feel her face heating. The spell had enabled Fred to see her memory, but she had no idea if he knew what she was thinking. "I wasn't very good at resisting the spell though."

"It's okay. I don't think anyone managed to block it. I was kind of surprised by that memory though." He looked at her.

Angelina shrugged. "Well it is my favorite place in the whole world, I guess that was just my favorite memory of being there."

Fred grinned. "And why is that?"

"Because I had a lot of fun that summer," She decided to be honest.

"Me too. Funny it should come up, I was thinking about you this summer, you know." He said softly.

Angelina's heart skipped a beat and she forgot to breathe out. Did this mean he felt the same way? She quickly dismissed the thought; o_f course he thought about me, I'm one of his best friends. Best friends and nothing more. _"Really?" She stared into his eyes. "You really thought about me?"

"Yeah. We went to the Quidditch World Cup and I was thinking about how much you would have loved to be there. It's too bad you weren't there."

She smiled, and pretended that of course she didn't, even for a moment, wish that he had said something different. "Oh you are _so _lucky you went! I wanted to go so badly, but tickets were impossible to get. Alicia told me all about it though, did you see her?"

"We saw a lot of people, including her and Wood." He said. "Speaking of Alicia, is she okay? I know George was being an idiot, but she isn't usually that short-tempered."

"Oh she's probably fine." In fact Angelina knew she was fine, frustrated, but fine.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a glass filled halfway with a sparkling red liquid. "Drink that. It won't stop the hiccups, but the bubbles will go away in about ten minutes." Angelina swallowed the potion and made a face, it tasted like orange peels. "All right, off you go now!"

. . . .

"I _hate _those girls!" Angelina hissed in Charms, which was after Potions.

Alicia, who was still in a foul mood, mumbled the incantation they were supposed to be doing nonverbally and flicked her wand. Snowflakes were supposed to be shooting out of it, but nothing happened.

Caroline leaned over to see what I was talking about. "Oh. That's Amaiko and Kitoko, they're quite nice if you get to know them but unfortunately they're the prettiest girls in our year and the fact that they're twins makes their beauty astronomical."

"It looks like they've turned on their Asian Persuasion." Kim said. "I don't think anyone else stands a chance once that happens."

Angelina looked again across the room where Fred and George were working with Amaiko and Kitoko. Amaiko was trying unsuccessfully with the charm. "Here, lower your arm a bit." He gently lowered her arm by taking her wrist. Amaiko smiled shyly at him and said thank you. Fred looked away, caught Angelina's eye, and gave her a small smile.

Kim and Tina gasped and looked at each other. Caroline and Jillian squealed and Alicia stopped looking murderous for a few seconds.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it." Kim said. "He must really like you. Usually guys are entranced by their presence, let alone a smile and mild flirting."

Angelina smiled to herself and managed to shower them all in snowflakes. "Oh wonderful!" Professor Flitwick said. "Ten points to Gryffindor, well done Miss Johnson!"

"You never told us about what happened earlier today." Caroline said. "Okay admittedly Alicia and I saw the tiny bit where you got thrown out of the lake by the squid and up until you flew in and gave us a heart attack."

Jillian giggled. "And then she told us."

"Sorry! But you know I can't keep my mouth shut until I tell someone. Then again of course _we _know so it's okay." Caroline said. Admittedly, she was a chatterbox and loved to talk, not so much just to hear her voice, it was her way of being friendly.

"Oh I don't know, nothing really happened," Angelina said, trying to keep her cool.

"Oh no! You have to tell us _everything _and don't leave out any details!" Kim said.

"Well okay," Angelina was bursting to tell someone anyways.

She told the girls everything from the very beginning to the end and was more than happy to give every single detail. Starting from when Fred agreed to go with her all the way until Caroline interrupted them. At this the other girls sighed and Tina said slightly exasperatedly, "Oh Caroline _when _will you learn to keep your mouth shut?"

"Then he flew up to the common room and I caught Caroline and Alicia spying on me through the curtains." Angelina finished.

"You have to admit that we have the best window location. I mean people are always by the lake in case we need to keep an eye on them." Kim said. "But I can't believe you interrupted them in the middle of such a cute moment!"

Caroline scoffed. "Well excuse me, but it would have been interrupted anyways once they realized they were late. I saved them from unnecessary punishment! Besides, it was Snape we had next, if you're so much as half a second late he murders you."

"Okay, that's true." Jillian conceded. "I think he really likes you Angie! I'm so excited for you! You'll have to watch out though, I mean it's only the first day and there are tons of girls who would kill you if they saw that."

"Wait what?" Alicia and Angelina said in unison.

The other girls stared at them in disbelief. "Do you _listen _to the gossip that goes around?" Caroline's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Yeah! I mean everyone admits that they're cute, and no one can deny they're hilarious and great to be in class with. Oh and not to mention they've grown like six inches taller this summer and did you not pay attention when you were with Fred? Both of them have broader shoulders and I can tell there's muscle under his shirt." Tina said. "I mean I don't like them in that way, but I doubt anyone will say no to them."

The other girls nodded their agreement.

"I still think he likes you though." Jillian said. "I mean guys are hard to read, but they're not much more capable of hiding feelings than we are. They act like it, but they aren't. Besides, Amaiko's absolutely fawning over him and he isn't even really paying attention."

Angelina looked again. Amaiko had finally succeeded in shooting snowflakes out of her wand, which the other girls suspected she didn't need help on, and accidentally showered him in white snow. "I am so sorry!" She brushed flakes off his chest and shoulder. "Oh you've got some in your hair too." Amaiko stood on tiptoe and ran her fingers through his hair, pretending to remove snowflakes that had already melted.

"It's fine, it's fine," Fred stepped back and brushed a few bits of snow off his wrist.

Caroline burst out in giggles and in a few seconds everyone was laughing. "I don't get it!" Angelina said, "What was so funny?"

"Turn around!" Jillian said.

Angelina turned around the same time Fred did. She gave him a sympathetic smile and he gave her a help-me-I'm-desperate look. Angelina smirked, then shrugged and mouthed _sorry, you're on your own_.

"Ooh nicely done." Kim said, nodding approval.

"Should I go rescue him?" Angelina asked.

The girls pondered the thought for a moment. At this point Kitoko had George wrapped around her finger and Amaiko was looking extremely jealous of her twin. "No." Caroline finally said. "Not yet at least."

Professor Flitwick passed by. "Chitchatting? Let's see your spells!" The girls pointed their wands in the air and caused a shower of snowflakes to bury Professor Flitwick up to his knees. "Well done girls!" With a wave of his wand the snow disappeared and he moved on to the next group of students. "For the rest of you, homework is to practice!" He said to the class.

The girls packed up their stuff. "I think you can go rescue him now." Jillian said. "We'll see you in the common room."

Angelina took a deep breath and approached the other side of the classroom, where her classmates were still taking their time in packing up. Fred on the other hand, had shoved all his things into his bag and was trying to pry himself away from Amaiko, who was batting her impossibly long eyelashes.

"Angelina!" He cut across her.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?" Angelina asked innocently.

Amaiko looked furious. "Well actually—"

"No! I mean actually I was just leaving." Fred grabbed his stuff and gave Amaiko and unconvincingly apologetic look. "Thanks." He whispered in her ear. His voice sent shivers down her spine. He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of class. "I owe you."

Angelina couldn't help shooting Amaiko a triumphant look as they headed up to the Gryffindor common room.

_**I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Oh and no offense to anyone who finds that Asian Persuasion comment offensive, I'm Taiwanese and my friends use that phrase all the time so I hope no one's mad about that. **_

_**Please review!! I check the story traffic before updating the next chapter and I'm glad people read what I write, but it doesn't take long to compose a short review and I would absolutely love it if you did! Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter, thanks in advance for those who will review, and advice or constructive criticism is welcome!  
**_


	3. Gone Too Far

The Truth About Love- Chapter 3

_**I'm honestly a little disappointed by the lack of reviews, I had more than just 7 in one chapter for previous stories... but I decided to update this chapter anyways, but if I don't get more then I think I'll just take the story off and put it on another site, the reason I put it up was because I wanted to know what other people thought of my writing. **_

The first month back at Hogwarts passed in a blur. Everyone was soon buried under piles of homework and for Angelina, the loss of Quidditch seemed to make her days slightly boring. Nothing special had happened between her and Fred, they hadn't been together alone for days. The N.E.W.T. work proved to be difficult and demanding, taking up most of their time.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother." Alicia said, scribbling away at her Transfiguration essay. "I mean how in the world am I supposed to figure out what to do if he doesn't even pick up subtle? Clearly I'm not supposed to be obvious yet but this is all so frustrating!" She dotted her i particularly hard and nearly poked a hole through the parchment.

Katie laughed and continued copying the picture of a bowtruckle from her book for Care of Magical Creatures. "Well George, like all guys, is particularly bad at picking up hints and from what I heard about your constant ranting, has fallen for someone else already."

"Oh! And don't even get me _started _on that girl. I hate her! Who in the world does she think she is? My god, you should have _seen _her the other day." Alicia rolled up her finished essay and stuffed it in her bag along with her Transfiguration books and reached for her Potions books and a fresh piece of parchment. "Stupid pretty Kitoko."

Katie unscrewed a new bottle of ink. "Well what about you Angelina? Anything new with Fred?"

Angelina sighed. "No, nothing. We haven't even had a chance to be alone, what with all this homework."

"You know I never thought my four best friends would be falling for each other. It's kind of funny." Katie labeled the last part with a flourish and moved on to her History of Magic homework.

"Well what about you?" Angelina asked. "You want to add your issues with guys while we're at it?"

Katie laughed and underlined her title. "No, I think unlike you my problems are at a minimum, well at least there, but I don't think these essays are going to write themselves. Wait! Oh my gosh, why didn't I think of it before?" She dived into her bag and pulled out a bright blue quill.

"What is that?" Alicia asked.

"Fred gave it to me a few days ago, he said he needed someone to experiment for him. They're Self-Writing Quills, you tell it what you want it to write and it'll write for you. It's a lot faster than hand-writing, I used yesterday to take notes of Professor Binn's lecture and it scribbled everything he said, I just went back and crossed out the stuff I don't need. It's also got spell check and grammar fix, isn't that great?"

Alicia pouted. "They never gave me anything like that."

Katie shrugged and then gave Angelina a meaningful look. Usually Alicia was not annoying, but it seemed like the year had started off badly for her.

Angelina sucked her Sugar Quill and felt guilty that she had been so caught up in her own issue with Fred that she never paused to think about Alicia and George. On the first day back she had her dizzy head in the clouds and hadn't even been listening to Alicia when she talked about her sudden unexpected crush on George. Katie had listened intently and interjected helpful advice, while Angelina fantasized.

Her quill paused over the blank parchment, dripping ink. _I am the worst best friend in the world. _Alicia had always listened to her when she went on about Fred, even if it wasn't remotely interesting and repetitive. Katie never failed to be there when she needed her either, and if it weren't for her advice and insight she would be nowhere with him.

"Maybe I should just give it up." Alicia said, underlining the title of her next essay. "I mean I'm let's face it, compared to _her _who would want me? She's so much prettier than me, her hair actually lies flat! And it's so sleek and shiny, god why is life _soooo _unfair?? Have you heard him go on about how her eyes are so cute because they 'sparkle and look like crescent moons when she smiles?' Unlike me of course, she also knows guys and you would almost think she knows more about him from just meeting him than I would and we've been friends since… forever!"

Angelina put her quill down. "Alicia you're a lot prettier than her. And a lot of girls would pay big money to have hair like yours. That color doesn't come in a bottle and even fancy treatments can't make curls that springy and bouncy."

"Yeah, and your eyes are way prettier too. They're not just blue, they're kind of blue-green and sometimes blue-gray depending on the weather and I don't know a single person who has eyes the same color." Katie added, as she wrote her name on the diagram she had just finished. "You know they say a person's eyes are the windows to their soul, so that means you're pretty inside _and _out."

"_And _Kitoko is probably too girly to even think about playing Quidditch and you know what George thinks of girls who don't like sports. Right now he's probably just shocked that she likes him and he'll realize soon enough that there isn't very much to her except looks, which alone can't take you too far." Angelina pointed out.

Alicia sighed, looking a lot happier for the first time in days. "You two are the best!"

. . . .

"Woah, watch out!" Fred caught Angelina by the shoulders as she nearly tumbled down the stairs. "So what's so important?"

Angelina held up her unfinished Potions essay. "I _need _to find that book on the wolfsbane potion before the library closes, which is in exactly three minutes, or my head is going to be on the chopping block in Potions tomorrow!" She ducked under his arm only to have him grab her around the waist.

"Hold on!" He said. "I have the book, in fact I just finished my essay too if you want to just borrow and rephrase some of it. I just came back from the library, George and Alicia are still in there working on Herbology homework, but George owes me for last week's Transfiguration essay."

"Oh my god Fred you are a life saver!" She flung her arms around him. "Now you're debt-free from yesterday's star charts."

"Technically only half free since I borrowed Alicia's paper while she was doing Arithmancy calculations." Fred set down his books and homework on a table by the window and handed her his essay.

"Thank you _so _much!" Angelina flattened her half-finished essay and then scribbled a reworded, slightly edited version of his last three paragraphs, purposely spelling a few words wrong, knowing that at least she did it and Snape probably didn't have enough time to really look for all the mistakes and seeing as she wasn't yet on the Top Ten Most Hated, she would be okay.

Fred leaned back in the chair. "No problem. I was just coming to find you actually."

Angelina looked up from her essay, leaving her t uncrossed. "Really?" She tried to rearrange her features so as not to look too eager. "Why is that?"

"Oh, well we haven't talked in a while and the atmosphere around George and Alicia is always subject to extreme change the minute one of them says something. It's like trying to walk on a path you know is on top of a series of land mines."

"Always prepare for an explosion." Angelina and Fred finished at the same time. She smiled.

Fred smiled back and feeling herself blush, she finished her sentence, forgetting that she left the t uncrossed. "What's going on with them anyways? One minute they're laughing like everything's fine just the way it should be, and then they blow up at each other and Alicia starts crying and George sulks for the rest of the day. Then the day after they get all sugary sweet and polite, even though it's visibly killing them just to be in the same room."

"How can you see that and not get what's happening?" Angelina wondered aloud. "I mean I don't always get this stuff, but I can pick up the obvious."

Fred shrugged. "Oh well, I was hoping you'd tell me, but clearly you and Katie are keen on keeping us in the dark."

"What?! It's clear as day!" Angelina exclaimed.

Fred laughed. "Fine, _don't _tell me. It doesn't matter to me except that my brother and best friend can't stand being within fifty feet of each other without starting war and making us choose sides."

"Well I hope that doesn't really happen." Angelina said, scribbling the concluding sentence. "I don't like it when people fight. I liked everything better when we all got along and could have a laugh without complications."

"In other words when everyone was friends and not mortal enemies?"

Angelina wasn't sure she liked being _just _friends and stared into the dancing firelight instead. "Friends," She said quietly. "Sure."

There was a few minutes of silence, in which both of them stared at the fire, watching the flames until they burned out into glowing embers. Finally Fred broke the silence. "Ange, is something wrong?"

"Hm?" She was so deep in thought she didn't even register the use of the nickname she didn't let him call her anymore.

"Are you okay? You look worried about something."

Angelina looked up and saw that Fred was no longer focused on the fire. His hazel eyes found hers and electricity pulsed between them. Knowing that if she didn't stop herself now things could take a turn for the worst, she averted her eyes. "Nothing, I'm fine."

. . . .

"Okay, I think I need a break." Alicia set down her quill and rolled up her completed essay.

She closed the thick encyclopedia of plants she was using and shoved the rest of her books into her bag along with her quill, ink, and essays. _Three essays, two star charts, and a diagram all in four hours, not bad_, Alicia thought to herself as she stacked the books she had borrowed. Tired, she rested her head on the books.

"I think that was a record." George said.

Alicia yawned. "A record of what?"

"Nothing."

"No tell me."

"No…"

"Yes…"

George put away his stuff and didn't answer.

"Please?"

He shrugged. "I don't think we've gone that long without starting an argument this year yet. I don't know what happened, we used to get along great, but since we got back you've been impossible to deal with."

Alicia froze. _ So he does care_. Maybe not the way she wanted him to, but enough to wish that she could be comfortable around him. "George?"

"Yeah?" He pushed his chair back to the table, about to go.

"I'm sorry." That didn't seem like enough to her. "About everything. Things have been… I don't know kind of difficult since summer and I think I've been taking it out on you. But I don't want us to be like this, it's unfair."

"I'll say." He interjected, stacking up the books he needed to put back.

Alicia continued. "What I mean is that I think I need a fresh start with you for this year. We've been friends since we were eight, you shouldn't have to hold your breath every time I'm around. That's not us. I—" She faltered, not sure she should go farther about how she felt, but unable to truthfully say she wanted things the way they were before.

She sighed, thinking it was all over now, and got up. "I'm sorry, okay? I… I messed it all up, this… this isn't what I wanted." She pushed her chair back, and turned to leave. _Nice job Alicia, of course he doesn't care, how can he after what you've been like??_

"Alicia," George put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from leaving. "I'm sorry too. I should have been more understanding, that's what friends do. And it's never just one person's fault, don't blame yourself, it's partly mine too."

Alicia turned around and threw her arms around him. "You're forgiven as long as I am!" She held on tightly. "I missed you George."

. . . .

"I am floating with my head up in the clouds, nothing can bring me down today." Alicia said to Angelina and Katie on their way to breakfast. "You would not believe what happened last night! I wanted to tell you right then and there, but you were both asleep." In a hushed voice she told Angelina all about what happened in the library the night before.

When she finished Angelina gasped and Katie squealed. "Oh my gosh! Alicia do you know what that means? This is amazing, I'm so excited for you! I can't believe how well everything's turning out to be."

"You sure two sure are happy." Lee noted as they sat down opposite the boys. "It's a nice change in you Alicia. Welcome back."

"Thank you, it feels great!" Alicia spread strawberry jam on a piece of toast. "Why do you sound so upset?" She asked, happily spreading peanut butter on a second slice. "Oh wait, let me guess, you asked Angelina out again and you got the same answer."

Lee scowled and Fred and George laughed. "No, not exactly." Fred said. "It's funnier if you were there."

"This happened while you and George were in the library, it's a shame you missed it." Katie said, piling eggs, bacon, toast, a banana and several ripe strawberries on her plate. For someone so skinny and petite she ate a lot. "She said she'd rather go out with the squid in the lake and then when he kept moping she made his legs turn into tentacles."

Alicia laughed. "Really? Nice Angelina." She set down the knife she had used to cut her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"It's actually _not _very nice of her." Lee mumbled.

Angelina shrugged and sucked on a slice of orange. "Well life's not fair. Besides, you need to clean up your act, I heard that you and Nicole Patterson were caught snogging in one of your secret passages two nights ago."

Lee turned scarlet and mumbled something unintelligible into his plate of sausage.

"Come on Lee, you've been at this since our second year, get over it." Katie said cheerfully, slicing the banana. "I mean really, you ask her out every three weeks, it's getting old."

"Maybe switch your approach, just flat out asking at random times isn't very effective." Alicia said. "You know it's a shame no one thinks too highly of Muggle ideas, there are a few that work. Like cell phones and computers, but I mean besides that. I've never heard of guys serenading girls or giving them their favorite flowers in this pitifully non-romantic place."

Angelina nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if you write me a song then I'll give you a chance."

Lee brightened. Alicia and Katie gave her identical sideways looks, both along the lines of what-in-the-world-are-you-doing?! "Really? You mean it?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, really?" Alicia asked.

"I'm not sure I heard you right." Katie added.

"This should be interesting." Fred said, sounding only mildly interested and not the least bit worried or jealous as he sliced a kiwi in half.

Angelina nodded. "If you can write it to me by the date of our next Hogsmeade trip then I'll let you have an hour. Just us. _Together." _She put an emphasis on the words, hoping that it would catch Fred's attention. However, he seemed indifferent as he ate his kiwi with a spoon.

. . . .

"What was that all about?" Alicia asked, shoving Angelina into an empty classroom. Katie shut the door behind them.

"What was what all about?" Angelina asked.

Katie and Alicia gave her equally exasperated and slightly angry looks. "You know what we mean." Katie said, an uncharacteristically dark look on her face. "Why did you say you would go out with Lee?"

"Oh, well isn't it obvious?" Angelina said, wondering why her friends had chosen this moment to play dumb.

Alicia and Katie looked at each other, communicating through expressions. "Oh no." Katie, as usual, was the first to understand. "Oh no. No, why, of all things to pick up from stupid Muggle TV shows??"

"You're not serious are you?" Both of them turned to Angelina. "You can't be!"

Angelina shrugged. "I figure if his best friend and I went on a date it might make it easier to decide if Fred wanted me or not. It's been a month since we got back and a year since I decided that I fancied him. I don't want to wait forever."

Katie looked at her with a stony expression and a dark look in her eyes. Alicia on the other hand, looked confused and doubtful. "Angelina, wherever you picked up that awful idea, it's not going to work. I would have thought _that _was the obvious part." Alicia said.

"It's just one date." Angelina insisted. "Not even that, it's just one _hour _for heaven's sake, it's not a bit deal."

"It might be to him." Katie said. "Just because _you _can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. Everyone can tell he really likes you."

This time Angelina was the one who threw her hands up in exasperation. "But _you _two treat it like a joke too."

"There's a difference." Alicia pointed out. "When you say no to someone like Lee that just means keep trying, but if you let him think that you like him when you don't he's going to be majorly disappointed."

Katie nodded in agreement. "Angelina, he's our _friend_. He's _your _friend too, and if you do this you're going to hurt him. Did you ever think about that?"

Angelina opened her mouth to answer, but she didn't have one.

"This is too much, you went too far this time."

Alicia and Katie gave her one last meaningful look before walking out on her.

_**I finally got the Alicia/George subplot in, but Katie's part has to wait, I promise it will be good though. I couldn't resist to add in Lee because when I was rereading the books I saw that he seemed to like Angelina.**_

_**Pleeeaaaassseeeee tell me what you think, it helps a lot. Thanks to Vero and Cam who reviewed both chapters!!!  
**_


	4. The Distance Between

The Truth About Love- Chapter 4

_**Thank you danalexkayarimad, and GinnyWhetherby for their reviews. Special thank you to **__**mazeltov, C**__**am and Vero for their very longer and very helpful reviews :) This chapter is a bit shorter and I put a bit more Alicia/George in it.**_

"I can't believe her." Alicia said, picking out two shades of blue nail polish and looking at them critically.

"I know." Katie sat down on her bed. "She's been friends with Lee since their first year. I can't imagine why anyone would do that. To hurt your friend because you wanted his best friend, that's low."

Alicia sighed and put both bottles back, she couldn't think about something like nail polish at a time like this. "I'm not sure if she just doesn't understand or if she does and she doesn't think that Lee, like her, is human and it's never a good feeling to know that you were used, especially since he really likes her and at the very least he expected she would always be his friend."

"Yeah she's being so callous with his feelings." Katie agreed.

Alicia fingered a blond curl. "You know how last night you said that you think George and I have a chance?"

Katie nodded. "Yes, and I still stand by that."

"But what about Kitoko?"

Katie scoffed. "The only thing they have going for them is their looks, so they get pretty nasty if things don't go their way with guys, but it's nothing to worry about. Once she realizes that you and George are on speaking terms she's going to freak out and it'll show her true colors."

"Yeah, but this would all be so much easier if she were out of the picture. I mean for all I know George might be madly in love with her."

"Ask Ginny." Katie suggested. "Of all of them she's closest to George, everyone knows that. I'm not really sure why, but she is."

"Oh that's easy." Alicia said. "That's because you're closest to Fred, he always treats you like a little sister." She gasped and it was as if a light bulb turned on in her head. "That's it! Katie! _Katie," _She said in her sweetest pretty-please voice.

"Oh no!" Katie said. "No, no, no!"

"But Katie! I really, _really _need to know and all you have to do is ask Fred, he'll tell you anything. Besides, it's easier for you to get it from Fred than for Ginny to get it from George, he probably won't admit it since deep down guys are total chickens."

Katie looked uneasy. "Well isn't that sort of the same as using him?"

"It depends on how you ask him, if you trick him into telling him then it's using him, but I swear I'll back off if he doesn't like me and we'll just be friends." Alicia said. "Besides, this is actually making things less messy because if he didn't like me and I didn't know, then we don't have to go through the awkward phase."

Katie said thoughtfully, "When you put it that way, I suppose it's true, but I don't know, it's abusing the position of being his friend."

"I'm your best friend!" Alicia protested. "_And _I'll buy you that dress you liked in the _Witch Weekly _catalogue."

Katie sat up, her eyes wide. "Are you serious?! Really?"

Alicia nodded. "Serious! Next Hogsmeade trip, I'll buy it for you."

"Okay, you have a deal." Katie said, jumping off the bed. "I'll go find him now."

. . . .

The next morning was Saturday so Katie slept right through the morning until it was almost lunch. Alicia was sitting across from Angelina, acting as if she were not there and ignoring all her attempts at conversations or apologies. The boys were looking at them peculiarly.

"There you are!" Alicia said. "So, did you find out?"

"Um, kind of." Katie said, piling her plate with food. She started eating as fast as she could without making a mess or looking bad.

"And?" Alicia said.

Katie continued scarfing down her lasagna. "Can't tell you yet."

Alicia nodded, having forgotten momentarily that she was in a crowded table and not the ideal place to be discussing this. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Katie swallowed a large mouthful of salad with difficulty, nearly choking, which Fred and George found very funny. "Huge pile of homework, I forgot to do it after I found out about you-know-what. This girl Leanne and I got paired to do a project together for Herbology." She finished her salad, swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and then dashed off.

"I was wondering when this would happen, it was bound to sooner or later." George said lightly. "I don't get why everyone freaks out about O.W.L.'s, they're not that big of a deal."

"What?!" Alicia said. "They are _very _important!" In fact, now that she thought about it, she felt bad for keeping Katie away from her studies.

"Eh, if you really need to know how to turn a lemon into a chair, but I don't see the point." Fred said indifferently. "Anyone want to play Quidditch today? I haven't been on a broom since the first day back."

Alicia noticed Angelina become very interested in buttering a piece of bread. "It's not the same without Katie." Alicia said. "Maybe later."

So two and a half hours later Alicia tracked Katie down coming back from the library with Leanne, who Katie seemed to really like. Angelina, in a desperate attempt not to have to face awkward questions, had begged and pleaded with the other girls and convinced them to play.

"Oh that's great, we'll have full teams." Lee said, oblivious to the fact that Katie and Alicia were giving Angelina very nasty looks.

"Um, I don't think I really count." Jillian said, shifting her feet nervously. "I'm can't exactly fly."

"Same here." Tina said, looking away from Angelina and Alicia, who were both looking quite angry at the four of them.

Kim looked longingly at the lake, where a group of very good looking seventh year guys were sitting. Caroline was eyeing them too. "You know, maybe we should just leave it to you, we're not very good and I don't want you to feel bad if any of us fall off our brooms or anything." Caroline said.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good." Kim said quickly. "We'll see you!" The four of them hurried off towards the lake.

"So how should we split up?" Katie asked. "I want to be on Alicia's team this time."

It turned out that Fred had promised Angelina she could be on his team so it was the two of them and Lee. Katie and Alicia were rather excited by the fact that George had chosen to be on their team. "This is all so perfect!" Katie whispered excitedly.

"Well not exactly for Lee, and it looks like Angelina got what she wanted too, but that's not the point!" Alicia whispered back.

They played for two hours. Alicia and Katie played hard on Angelina, which resulted in them winning and Angelina fuming in anger, she did not like to lose. Fred, George, and Lee did not seem to care, as they were fooling around and not doing a great job of blocking or scoring. Their game was interrupted when it began to rain.

Glad for an excuse to stop, Angelina called an end to the game.

"Well I guess we win." George said, "Nice job." He high-fived Alicia, and she blushed; for a short moment he held onto her hand. "Sorry." He let go of her hand and descended towards the ground.

Alicia and Katie exchanged significant looks. Then Alicia giggled and flew a few loops in the air before flying towards the ground.

"It's raining!" Katie said happily, diving down. She jumped off her broom and twirled around, a huge smile on her face. "What?" She caught the surprised looks of Fred, George, and Lee. "You know I like the rain." She tilted her head up so that the light drizzles of rain fell on her face.

Angelina mumbled something about an unfinished assignment and walked toward the castle as fast as possible, unnoticed by the others.

"Let's dance!" Alicia and Katie giggled and started twirling around and laughing.

Katie laughed at the perplexed expressions on the guys' faces. "Dance with us!"

Alicia giggled as George picked her up by the waist and spun her around twice. Lee shrugged and spun Katie around and before they knew it they were all laughing and dancing in the rain. They were soaked through and dripping water by the time they got back into the castle, making a lot of noise as they talked and laughed loudly through the corridors on their way back to the common room.

"Oh goodness!" Professor McGonagall looked at them in horror, tracking in mud, dripping wet, and their loud talking echoing in the empty corridors. "What _have _you been up to?"

At this they all broke down laughing and without waiting for an answer Professor McGonagall ushered them into the common room. "Did you see the look on her face?" George asked. "I thought she was going to take points off for us laughing."

"It would do her good to have some fun, when was the last time she smiled anyway?" Fred wondered aloud.

"Certainly never in _your _presence," Katie joked.

Their laughing attracted many stares from people in the common room. Angelina looked up from her book and scowled at Katie and Alicia, who were too busy laughing to notice. "Hey Angelina!" Fred called. "Where were you? You missed out on the fun!"

"What a shame." She said sourly, slamming her book shut and storming out of the common room.

Fred looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. She's been in a bad mood all day." Alicia said airily. _Besides, she _wants _you to follow her, _she thought. Wasn't it obvious?

"Hmmm." Lee said, having lost interest in the conversation.

"I'm hungry." George said randomly. "I'm going to see if I can get something from the kitchens."

Katie rolled her eyes and said, "Boys!"

"Aren't you always." Alicia said sarcastically.

"I know it's pointless to ask." Katie said, "But will you ever show us where the kitchen is?"

"Let me think about that…" Fred pretended to contemplate this. "No." He and George said together. "Lee doesn't even know."

At this Lee did not look very happy, but didn't say anything.

"Well we're off." George said, heading toward the portrait with Fred. "If you want we'll bring you back a treacle tart or something."

"Yes please!" Alicia said. "And anything strawberry!" She added. "Okay now you can tell me what you should have told me last night!" She said in undertone to Katie.

Katie suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Well… I don't know, I don't think that he really—" She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Alicia had yanked her hand and proceeded to drag her up three flights of stairs.

"Tell me!" Alicia sat down on her chair and locked the door of her dorm. "You have to, I don't care if it's bad, you have to tell me." She said, shutting the window and pulling the curtains shut.

"Um, well the thing is…" Katie shifted her legs, clearly buying for time.

Alicia looked at her eagerly, hope shining in her eyes. She would hate to have to let her down, she was already bursting with excitement, even though she really didn't know what was coming. And wasn't it her job as a friend, to try and not tell her unnecessary things that made her upset? Did she really need to know?? And even if things were the other way around it was much more romantic not to tip her off. Letting things unravel on their own was much better. But unfortunately, this was not the case.

"Okay I talked to Fred, and it took me a good ten minutes to coax it out of him since it's shocking how little they know about each other when it comes to this. You would really think that as twins they would—"

"_Katie!_" Alicia interrupted. "Just tell me!"

"Okay! Remember Harmony Lovering?"

Alicia nodded. "Of course! She was like our best friend, well until she moved away that one summer after our second year." Harmony was a pretty girl with a friendly personality and a gift for being peacemaker. "We still write to each other."

"Yeah me too. Anyways," Katie continued on, "she visits them every summer and she and George really liked each other. But since she lives all the way in the US somewhere in California, they never made it official or really went out. According to Fred and some stuff I got out of Ginny, they've decided to try and put it all aside and just be friends before things get messy."

Alicia looked shocked, which Katie figured was way better than her breaking down into tears. "So… how long has it been since they decided to just be friends?"

Katie bit her lip, wishing that she had not been the one sent to find out this information. "Ginny said the beginning of this summer." She did not mention what Ginny said about him being extremely upset.

"Oh." Was all Alicia said. "Okay then."

"Um, _okay?_" Katie said. "Okay?" She repeated. "Are you sure you're _okay _with that?"

Alicia shrugged. "Well I was sort of hoping that he liked me, but I'm not going to push for a relationship since that's not what he needs right now." She sighed, a slightly pained expression on her face. "I know if I were in the same position I would want him to do the same. I'd rather have a friend than another problem to deal with."

"George is pretty lucky to have you for a friend."

. . . .

The letters were starting to float off the page and Angelina found she was rereading the same line without retaining any of it. _I can't concentrate, forget it. _She shut the book a little too hard and it let out a loud wail and started crying.

"Oh shut up!" She shoved it onto a shelf so hard that a shower of books fell down. She cursed, and then bent down to pick them up.

"Need a hand?"

Angelina looked up and smiled. "Thanks Fred." She picked up a thick volume about Japanese plants and put it back on the shelf.

"No problem." He organized four books into alphabetical order and them put them back on the shelf. "What are you doing here anyways? I thought you didn't have any homework."

Angelina shrugged. "I don't know, something's just gotten into me."

"Oh." Fred picked up the last two books and put them on the shelf. "I came looking for you, I thought you seemed upset. I hope it wasn't anything I said. I'd hate for this to turn into George and Alicia."

"You didn't do anything wrong, sorry if I made you think that." Now that they were drawn to their full height she found it a little awkward to talk to him since she would have to look up at him. "I just… I don't know, it's kind of complicated."

"You can tell me." Fred said. "I wouldn't laugh at you or anything."

Angelina forced herself to laugh. "Yeah right!" She playfully shoved him. "Sure you wouldn't." She picked up her stuff.

"Okay, maybe just a little." He conceded. "But if something was wrong or if you were hurt I wouldn't laugh, you know that." He added softly. He put a hand on her shoulder. "You know that right?"

Angelina nodded. "Yeah, I do, and it's good to know." She said quietly. Katie and Alicia's refusal to talk to her was slightly depressing.

"Is everything okay with you and Katie and Alicia?" He asked, as if reading her mind. "They didn't seem to be too happy with you."

"Oh. Sort of." Angelina said awkwardly. "It's sort of complicated." _Not really, but as of the moment extremely complicated. _

"And I suppose you're not going to tell me." Fred mused.

"No, sorry, I can't." _But I wish I could. _As much as she wanted to confide in him and get it all over with, now wasn't the time. No doubt he would be unhappy that she was trying to use his best friend to make him jealous, which, consequently might not even have worked.

Fred stopped to give the Fat Lady this week's password before stepping into the common room, with Angelina following. "Before you go, Lee told me to give this to you." He opened his book and between the front cover and title page was a piece of blank parchment.

"Um… okay." Angelina stared at it, slightly confused. She picked it up and instantly it folded itself up into the shape of a rose. She gasped and stared at it. Then the rose unfolded into the parchment's original form and words appeared.

"There's your song." Fred closed his book.

Angelina searched his expression for signs of jealousy, almost hoping that he would somehow figure out and understand that she didn't care for Lee's song or the fact that he had actually remembered that she liked it when guys gave girls flowers. Fred caught her eye and looked puzzled. Angelina looked away.

"I'll see you at dinner." Fred was already halfway across the common room when Angelina looked back, and now more than ever, she wished she could reduce the distance that stood between them.

_**Reviews are VERY MUCH appreciated! And if you have any ideas feel free to let me know (thanks Vero for your advice) :D Next chapter will include the Hogsmeade trip so there will be lots of Fred/Angelina/Lee and George/Alicia. The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update it =]**_


	5. Second Chances

The Truth About Love- Chapter 5

_**Thank you danalexkayarimad, Vero, and weasley's second daughter for their reviews. Cam I have no idea where you went, but I miss your reviews! And thanks SO much to Vero for all your help in writing this chapter. **_

On Sunday morning Alicia woke up bright and early as usual. The weather was alright for mid-October. The sky was mostly clear with a few clouds here and there. It was very sunny, but slightly chilly. Feeling very cheerful, Alicia hummed as she got dressed, taking her time to pick her outfit. Today was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year and she was going shopping with Katie. She still needed to get her the dress she promised, and with the weather rapidly cooling she wanted to buy some scarves.

After grabbing a romance novel (borrowed from Caroline who highly recommended it) Alicia headed downstairs where she could curl up in her favorite chair and hopefully read a few chapters in peace before other people woke up. To her surprise, she was not the only person awake, sitting next to the slightly open window George was writing a letter.

"Morning!" Alicia chirped, sitting down in her chair opposite him. "How come you're up so early?"

George shrugged and stretched out in his chair. "I have to finish this letter. I've been too busy with homework this week."

"Who is it to?" Alicia asked, opening her book to the bookmarked page.

"Harmony, remember her?" George picked up his quill again and dipped it in ink.

Alicia dropped her book, losing her page. "Um yeah!" She said quickly, in response to his confused expression. "Of course I remember her!" She picked up her book and the bookmark. "I just uh didn't know you still kept in touch with her."

"She visits over the summer too."

Alicia rifled through the pages. "That's nice, how is she?"

"Good, I guess." There was a sudden definite note of dullness in his voice, confirming Katie's story and completely ruining Alicia's good mood.

"That's good." She quickly recomposed her features into a half convincing smile. "I haven't seen her since the summer she left." George winced slightly at the way she phrased the words. Was he perhaps reliving their decision to keep the relationship to just being friends? Alicia decided to take a chance. "Ginny told me about you and Harmony."

"Oh." He responded, sounding thoroughly deflated.

Alicia inserted her bookmark in the book at the page she never got to read. "I'm sorry."

Despite the circumstances, she meant it. From a rather painful experience, she knew how he felt. How had a relationship that started off being so wonderful end up falling apart? Did anyone really expect them to be able to be friends? George seemed to be reliving his experience, as his quill was suspended over the paper and he didn't notice it steadily dripping ink.

"Sorry." Alicia said again. "I—I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset."

"No it's okay." He said hastily. "It's fine. I'm fine."

She wanted to blurt out that it was okay, he didn't have to hide it. She wanted to tell him that she completely understood what it was like to face the other person but not be able to look them in the eye. To have to pretend like everything was fine when underneath the surface bubbled hurt. Instead she looked down at the book in her lap, the words meaning nothing to her.

. . . .

"You know I don't get why everyone's so upset." Katie said cheerfully as they lined up to be checked by Filch. "I mean George is mopey, Fred has been out of it since last night, Leanne is crying from stress of O.W.L.'s, and now _you _happen to be gloomy enough to make it rain."

"You know I'm starting to wish I were you. No romance issues, not a care in the world." Alicia said darkly. "I can't wait to start shopping, that always takes my mind off things and right now I desperately need a distraction."

Katie nodded. "Okay, but there's one teensy little thing."

"What?" Alicia asked.

"Erm… well you see this guy from Durmstrang asked Leanne out and she's terrified of the idea of being with an older guy alone and so she told him that she'd love to but she promised a friend that they were going to spend the whole day together and he said that was fine and he'd love to meet her friend and unfortunately I get to be that friend."

"WHAT?!" Alicia said loudly, attracting several amused and surprised stares.

"Relax!" Katie said. "It's only for an hour, she promised me I only had to spend one hour until she decided if he was worth the trouble or not. Trust me, I didn't really want to tag along as a third wheel, but I don't really know the girls in my year very well since I always hang out with you guys and she's so nice and funny so I thought I might as well just do it."

"But… what am I going to do?! That leaves me stuck with Fred and George and in case you haven't noticed George is not very happy with me!"

Katie held her arms out as Filch jabbed her with the Secrecy Sensor. "Well this is your chance to apologize!"

"In front of Fred?!"

"Fine, I'll beg him to come along, maybe that will make everything less unbearable." Katie said as Filch moved them aside to search the next person. "Besides, you don't want to be at odds with him all year. It's better to fix things as soon as possible before they spiral out of control. Do you want Kitoko to give him her sympathies before you get your chance??"

At the mention of Kitoko Alicia made a face. "You know, you're right, maybe this is a good thing. It creates the perfect opportunity without me having to make a single excuse to get him alone."

"Perfect then!" Katie said as they hurried over to the shops.

The girls spent an entire three and a half hours shopping the various stores in Hogsmeade.

Alicia bought Katie the dress she promised; a shimmery gold dress with spaghetti straps and a neckline and hem sparkling with what looked like gold flakes. Though neither of them could find an occasion in which she would need to wear it, Katie fell in love with it and Alicia thought she looked so pretty she bought it for her anyways.

To match the dress Katie bought a long sparkly white wrap and a necklace and bought Alicia a black skirt that looked great with her long gorgeous legs and its matching top. Alicia had gone all out and bought eight scarves, in different colors and patterns all on clearance, three pairs of earrings, and four bracelets at the same store. "What? I told you I needed something to keep my mind off him." Besides, her parents were very rich muggles who owned a chain of restaurants and an island in the Caribbean.

They moved through eleven shops and were both laden with large overstuffed bags of unnecessary purchases. Both girls were in a much better mood and even having to meet up with the others didn't dampen their spirits as they made their way through the crowd at Honeydukes, attracting stares from their several bags.

"Wow, that's a lot of stuff, how are you going to carry the sweets?" Fred asked as they browsed the shop, loading themselves with various items.

"Not an issue." Alicia said, stuffing her bag of sweets with her scarves. "So are we splitting off now?"

"Apparently." Fred said, as Lee and Angelina left the store without saying goodbye, both laughing.

Katie checked the time. "Oh no."

"What?" Fred asked, brandishing a licorice wand.

Katie made a face. "Leanne forced me to tag along for her date with this guy from Durmstrang. I _sooooooo _don't want to go."

"Then shouldn't you have said no?" Fred said.

"I couldn't, she's been so nice to me. It's too bad her date didn't bring a friend, that would make things so much better. Then I wouldn't be a third wheel. It's going to be so awkward and boring." Katie sighed.

"Hey maybe Fred or George can go with you." Alicia said brightly, as if that idea had just occurred to her. "Then at least you'll have someone to talk to."

Fred and George glared at Alicia. "No… that's a horrible idea!" George protested.

"Maybe you can all come with me, then it'll still be an even number. If you don't like it I promise I'll let you guys leave after ten minutes." Katie said desperately. "Please!" She begged. "I'm going to die if you don't come with me, it's going to be horrible!"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "I'll come if they come."

"No! Absolutely not! _We _did not force you to go, why should we be subjected to torturous boredom?"

But despite their complaints, Fred and George came along. They looked mutinous and Alicia was faking exasperation. They met Leanne and her date Marko, who had decided to go to Madam Pudifoot's tea shop. "What?! But that place is horrible! It's… it's…" But Fred didn't have an exact word to describe how much he loathed the place.

When they got to the tea shop there were only two tables, each only seating two people. "Oh that's too bad!" George said, too quickly.

"There's only seats for four people, I'll go with George, and you can all meet us back at the castle!" Alicia said brightly.

"Wait, but—" Fred protested.

"See you!" George and Alicia ran off to the coffee shop next to them and disappeared in the crowd.

Fred turned and gave Katie a look that clearly said 'you owe me big time for this' as they made their way into Madam Pudifoot's shop. The shop was hot and steamy, the windows fogged up so that people walking by would not have to see people making out. Everything was either pink or covered with lace. "This place is revolting." Fred whispered to Katie who looked around, her eyes wide with horror.

"I didn't know! I've never been here." Katie whispered back.

Leanne insisted that they push the two tables together so they could all talk. For the better part of twenty minutes Leanne and Marko held up the conversation, talking about topics that held no remote interest to Katie or Fred. They simple nodded and said "Uh huh" or "Yeah… sure" every few minutes.

"Can we please leave now?" Fred asked through gritted teeth twenty-five minutes into Leanne and Marko's conversation.

Katie nodded vigorously. "I hate this place!" They fabricated a very far-fetched excuse that the other two ignored and then dashed out the door.

"That was the most agonizing twenty five minutes in my life." Fred declared as they stepped out into the refreshingly cool air. The tea shop was a little too steamy, and that wasn't just the temperature.

"So do you see why I had to beg you to come? If it was just me I would have had to endure that all by myself." Katie said. "Don't you think that's a little unfair? Thanks to you I didn't have to stay in there for who knows how much longer."

They both laughed. "Okay in all fairness, I suppose it would have been mean to leave you in there." Fred conceded as they walked down a random street. "After all, I could hardly breathe in there, I wouldn't have wanted you to die in such a horrible place."

Katie laughed and zipped up her jacket.

"Are you cold?"

"No, but the sun's going down and I took it off when we went in the tea shop. It was so humid in there." Katie looked at the golden orange glow left from the sun, which had sank into the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts. She stood looking at the shades of orange, peach, and pink pastels painted in the sky, transfixed by the beauty of it.

"Come on let's go." Fred put his arm around her shoulder and steered her down the street.

. . . .

"Oh my gosh you're kidding me!" Alicia and George laughed at his recollection of one of his fantastic pranks he had pulled off with Fred. "But I'm sure you didn't really…" She started.

George raised an eyebrow. "You think we wouldn't?"

"Okay, no." Alicia admitted. This caused them to laugh again.

The Coffee Bean was a small café lowly lit by strings of multicolored lights that changed color every few seconds. Many groups of people were talking and laughing happily. At tables in the back people were playing games and in the front a very pretty girl was singing. The atmosphere was much more enjoyable than Madam Pudifoot's shop. At a table next to the wall Alicia and George were enjoying hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream and the best banana cream pie they had ever had.

To Alicia's relief it only took five minutes and a slice of cream pie for them to both open up and forget about the morning's awkwardness. They were talking, laughing, joking, singing along, and having fun being with each other. Alicia only wished that she had discovered this shop before. It was possibly even better than Three Broomsticks.

"I don't think I've ever had this much fun with you, just the two of us." Alicia said.

George nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm just glad we're not reliving this morning."

Alicia reached for his hand, which was laying on the table. "I don't think I made it clear what I meant this morning. What I wanted to say was that I know how it feels, and I'll be here if you need someone to talk to. That's what friends are for, and I don't think I've been acting like a very good friend lately."

She looked up and her clear blue eyes met his lovely hazel eyes. For a moment she felt electricity pulse between them and wondered if that was just her, or if he felt it too. A sort of understanding fell in place. "Thanks." George said, squeezing her hand. "That means a lot."

Alicia smiled, and thought to herself, _if I can't have a relationship now, I can at least build up to it. And don't relationships start off with friendship?_

. . . .

Angelina laughed and almost choked on her butterbeer. "You know I didn't think _anyone _remembered that!"

"Are you kidding? _Everyone _remembers that!" Lee replied, laughing as well.

"I sure hope no one does!" Angelina said. "That's so embarrassing! And yes, more embarrassing than the time Fred made me test out one of their experiments and I ended up giggling loudly every time someone talked to me, but still, I'd rather everyone else forgot about that."

"Oh now that, I had almost forgotten." Lee leaned back in his chair. "Then remember how that same day Snape had us make Laughing Potions and no one got it right but he thought you did because you were giggling?"

"Yeah! And then we did Giggling Charms and Alicia only made it worse." Angelina recalled.

"Good times." Lee said reminiscently.

"It's hard to believe that next year will be our last. I mean going into seventh year seems a little scary." Angelina admitted.

"You mean the idea of having to take N.E.W.T.'s freaks you out? And to think of all the stress that came with O.W.L.'s."

Angelina rolled her eyes. "That's true, but it's not what I meant. Do you really know what you want to do when you leave Hogwarts? The idea of trying to find a place in the huge wizarding world is kind of scary. And not just that. I mean… once we get out of school… what happens to us?"

"We're all still going to be best friends." Lee said, "Isn't that obvious?"

"Is it really? Remember Harmony? After she left I don't think any of us kept in touch with her. And you said that after your sister got out of Hogwarts you haven't seen her." Angelina pointed out.

"Yeah, but you don't have to be scared. The six of us have been friends for five years, we're not going to forget just because we're out of school. Besides, you'll at least see Wanted posters for Fred and George." Both of them laughed.

"That's definitely true." Angelina said. "And I suppose you'll have your own radio station?"

"And Alicia will be editing _Witch Weekly._"

"Which I'll be on the cover of."

They laughed again. "See? It all fits."

Angelina nodded. "Yeah, it does, but I don't think I want to think about this anymore. I want to focus on now."

"Me too. Do you think that waitress will sell us firewhisky even though I'm underage?" Lee asked.

"I don't know… but I've always wanted to try it." Angelina said. When the waitress passed by she ordered two firewhiskies.

"Cheers." Lee said. Both of them took a sip of it.

"Eew!" Angelina spit it out into her napkin. "Gross!"

"I don't think I like it very much either." Lee made a face, as he swallowed the first mouthful.

They both pushed their glasses to the edge of the table and laughed.

. . . .

"Okay this is ridiculous." Katie said. "You said you knew where we were going!"

"I do!" Fred said. "Well sort of."

"Can't we just ask for directions?" Katie asked. "We only have fifteen minutes and I don't particularly want to be locked out of the castle."

"No… let's just go this way." Fred turned to the right and Katie followed, slightly annoyed.

They wandered for another few minutes, passing shops they had never seen before, houses that looked very peculiar, people that looked even stranger, and without seeing a single thing they recognized. Originally, Katie had suggested going into Three Broomsticks, but Fred just wanted to walk around. Katie suspected this was because Angelina and Lee were very likely in there and he didn't want to see them, but contrary to her belief Fred did not seem the slightest bit jealous when she brought this up.

"Can we now ask for directions?" Katie asked, five minutes later.

"No. There's the Post Office, so to get back we just have to go this way." Fred pointed to the left.

"Why don't we just go that way?" Katie pointed to the right, which was a shorter path.

Fred sighed. "You're no fun, this way." He pointed to the left again past dark eerie looking shops with very strange looking people coming in and out. "Where's your sense of adventure? That leads to the Forbidden Forest and I've always loved to go in there."

"No!" Katie looked appalled at the idea. "There's all sorts of horrible things in there! Didn't your brother find acromantulas and creepy cloaked monsters and violent centaurs there? I'm not going in there!" She panicked.

"Fine, just a suggestion." Fred gave her a slightly annoyed look as they continued down the path to the right.

They walked a few blocks before passing The Coffee Bean where they saw Alicia and George talking over hot chocolate. They came to another fork in the road and this time Katie let Fred pick. To her puzzlement, he picked the path that went by Three Broomsticks. They passed by just as Lee and Angelina walked out laughing. They both waved and Fred grinned back.

"Fred? Fred? Fred are you listening?" Katie asked. _Gosh he's hard to read._

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry— anyways I don't think that Delacour girl stands a chance in the competition." They carried on with their conversation about the Triwizard Tournament and who they thought had the biggest chance of winning.

. . . .

"You know I had a lot of fun." Angelina said as they made their way back to the castle just two minutes before six.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Lee asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Angelina shrugged. "I don't know. Going to Three Broomsticks for an hour isn't exactly a date, but I've never actually spent time with you alone and I wasn't sure how it would be."

"But you enjoyed it?"

She nodded. "A lot actually."

"Would you give me a second chance?"

"I thought I just did." Angelina said, putting off the question. She was feeling nervous, and not in the same way as with Fred. This was a guilty kind of nervous.

"But it wasn't really a date."

"That's true." _Oh my god, please don't ask. Please, please please…_ She didn't want to say no again because undoubtedly she did have fun, but she some part of her felt like she should say yes. If they went on a real date maybe Fred would take it more seriously.

"But if I were to properly ask you out, not as a joke, and on a real date, would you say yes?"

"Well technically this isn't properly asking me out." Angelina pointed out. What in the world was she supposed to say? Wouldn't she be hurting him either way? It was times like this she wished she were like Katie and Alicia, who had older sisters.

"Alright, Angelina will you go out with me?"

"Yes." She spoke without meaning to. Her conscience had been overtaken by the small part of her that wanted to see Fred jealous. She wanted him to _want _her, wanted his eyes to follow her every time she was with Lee.

"Great!"

Angelina inwardly cringed. _No, it's really not._

_**Please leave a review :) If you don't know what to say you can tell me your favorite line... or you can just rant on pointlessly, I enjoy randomness. Thanks again for people who do review and thanks again to Vero, you're amazing!**  
_


	6. Caught Off Guard

The Truth About Love- Chapter 6

_**Thanks Cam, NikChic, Vero and danalexkayarimed for their reviews :) **_

_I am the worst person on the face of this planet… why did I say yes?! _ Angelina climbed the staircase that led to the fifth floor corridor.

Halfway up Angelina walked into someone. "Sorry!" She said.

"Oh that's alright." Angelina looked up and was suddenly very un-sorry. Standing in front of her was Amaiko and next to her was Kitoko, both of them smiling at her in a sugary sweet way that made her wonder what had just happened. "Did you just come back?" Amaiko asked.

"Yeah." She answered, thinking there was no harm in answering.

"That's nice, did you have fun on your date?" Amaiko asked.

"What?!" Angelina said loudly.

"Well, we heard about your date at Three Broomsticks. So cute." Kitoko said, smiling innocently sweet at Angelina, who felt her heart throbbing loudly. Why did they act like they knew something she didn't?

"Oh yeah I had a lot of fun! But if you'll excuse me, I really have to drop off my stuff before I head to dinner, see you in class tomorrow!" Angelina said in a horribly cheerful voice before darting around them and sprinting up the stairs. Behind her she heard the two girls giggling.

She had just dropped her bags next to her bed when the dorm room opened again and in came Alicia and Katie.

"_Why _has it suddenly come to our attention that you and Lee are going out?" Alicia demanded.

Angelina sat down on her bed, her back facing them. "I don't know what source you got that information from but it's faulty."

"So you and Lee have no arranged to go out on a date?" Alicia asked, with an air of knowing the answer.

"No." Angelina said defiantly.

Alicia scoffed. "What you're doing is bad enough, but to top it off you're a liar."

. . . .

Angelina took refuge in the library Monday night. Katie had tentatively approached her and offered to help fix things between her and Lee before anything bad happened, but she ignored her and stalked off to the library to do Charms homework. She had lost a page of her notes and had the option of trying to read Kim's messy scrawl or search for the information in the large volume in front of her on the table, both of which were tedious and difficult.

After two hours she still needed to write three more paragraphs and do her Transfiguration homework. She had never realized how much help Alicia was until she didn't have her notes to borrow. Unfortunately Fred and George did not pay attention in class and she didn't quite feel like asking Lee for his notes, even though they would have been much easier to read than Kim's.

"I'm being stupid." She said out loud, only to herself, seeing as no one else was there.

She should never have encouraged Lee in the first place, she never even cared for his song. It was all a desperate ploy to make Fred jealous which hadn't even worked. Then to make matters worse she had to say yes when Lee asked her out, which incidentally was her own fault for leading the conversation up to that.

She should have accepted Katie's help, in fact she should have been begging her and Alicia. If anyone could fix this, Alicia and Katie could. They were right the whole time anyways. Did it matter if Fred was jealous? Jealousy tended to make people retaliate with revenge, and it would only have driven him closer to Amaiko. And then, wouldn't Amaiko be fooled into thinking that Fred liked her, not that Angelina cared about _her _feelings?

Angelina groaned and put her head down on the table. So far she had already succeeded in convincing Lee that she liked him and promising to go on a date with him and losing her two best friends, losing the only people that made sense. What next? How in the world was she going to fix this?

It didn't matter anymore if going out with Lee would make Fred jealous, Alicia and Katie were right, hurting Lee wasn't worth it. If things were the other way around and Fred had suddenly declared that he was in love with Katie or Alicia she would definitely hate him for first, manipulating her, and for using her best friends, especially if they liked him.

"I am a horrible person." She said to herself, taking her unfinished essay and shoving everything in her bag.

She couldn't concentrate on something so irrelevant. Right now she needed to work on more important issues in her life. She checked that she had everything and then walked out of the library and almost straight into Fred. "Hey, I thought I'd find you here. You seem to be hiding in the library all the time."

"Oh hey." Angelina ignored the second part of what he said.

"Kim needs her notes back, I thought I'd pass along the message since I needed to return a book." Fred's fingers absently brushed hers and she felt something like an electric shock, not that he noticed. "Did you lose yours?"

"Yeah, the ones we took on Friday, I can't find them anywhere."

"You can use mine, I copied them from Alicia. Oh and apparently everyone thinks I'm some sort of owl because she wants me to tell you that you better fix things before it blows up in your face."

"Oh." Angelina said, not quite sure what to make of it. The meaning was obvious enough, but she was getting the feeling that she and Katie knew something she didn't. Then again, Kitoko and Amaiko did too, so maybe she was just being paranoid. "Is she still not talking to me?"

Fred shrugged. "No one's keeping me posted, but I get the feeling I'm going to find out soon."

"Why?" Angelina tried to keep the panic out of her voice.

"The way Alicia and Katie were talking it was as if you had hidden a time bomb in your dresser or something. I'm pretty sure you'd never be able to pull it off, but combined with Alicia's message I think I'm close." He joked lightly.

Angelina didn't laugh.

"Oh, so it's serious." He concluded.

"Well kind of." She decided not to tell him how dire the situation actually was. Technically, at the moment it was only a smallish issue since no one else knew, _and I'd rather keep it that way._

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Maybe four." Truthfully, she considered this an eight, but she didn't want him to be worried about her because then she might accidentally let important clues slip.

"Really?" He sounded very unconvinced, and Angelina wished that the common room wasn't a whole two floors above them.

Angelina sighed. "Okay maybe a little more, but I can sort this all out. I was thinking about it when I was in the library and I know how to fix it." This was at least two thirds untrue, because she had no idea exactly how she was going to explain this to Lee.

Fred didn't ask her anything else. They ascended two floors in silence, which was only interrupted by the sound of moving staircases and their footsteps as they climbed up. Angelina yelled the password in the middle of the Fat Lady's horrible attempt at opera, and they stepped into the common room. Nearly everyone had gone up to bed, and only Harry and Hermione were whispering in a corner.

The two of them wordlessly climbed the spiral staircase up three more floors. Angelina noted that a sort of awkwardness had fallen over them. Fred was curious about what was going on, but at the same time aware that it was probably personal and didn't want to push it. Angelina wanted to tell him, but just couldn't. They departed to their separate dorms without another word.

. . . .

"I don't think I can handle another double period." Katie said as she and Leanne made their way from the dungeons where they just had Potions to the fourth floor classroom for History of Magic. "At this rate I will not make it to the exams. This is crazy!"

"I know! I can't believe that in our most exciting year of Hogwarts we unfortunately have to worry about O.W.L.'s." Leanne said.

Katie hopped off the staircase before it changed directions on them. "Well you have Marko to help you on your studies. A seventh year at Durmstrang."

Leanne pushed aside floor length tapestry of Merlin and they stepped through. "That's true, he's been very helpful. You know he offered to introduce you to a few of his friends. I've met them and they're really fun to be around. Not to mention all very good looking. There's this one guy, Andrei, you would like him. He's got a very outgoing personality and he's really funny, I know you like guys like him. He's half American and he has this really cute accent."

"Oh, that's alright." Katie said. "I've got to keep up with this mound of homework. I'm just glad we have a decent teacher this year, I feel bad for the students who had to do O.W.L's when Lockart or Quirrel were here."

"Come on!" Leanne said. "You would really like them! Andrei was really interested in meeting you when I said you were like my best friend."

Katie stopped, completely surprised. "Am I really like your best friend?"

"Of course! I mean we've never really talked until last week, but it's way more fun to be around you than the other girls in our year. They're way too shallow. _Anyways, _I really think you should meet Andrei!"

"Maybe." Katie said, as they took their seats in class.

Leanne took out parchment, ink and her quill. "Is that a stop-asking-me sort of maybe or is that an I'll-really-think-about-it maybe?"

"An I'll-really-think-about-it maybe." Katie said.

Leanne smiled. "Okay. That's good enough for now."

Professor Binns floated through the blackboard and began his lecture on giant wars. Next to her Leanne was absently doodling on her paper. Katie left her Self-Writing Quill to take extensive notes and let her mind wander onto more important things. She wondered if she should just abandon hope and go meet this amazing Andrei. After all he was already taken, and unlike the Slytherin girls she wasn't going to steal someone else's potential boyfriend. She wasn't pressured to go out with Andrei anyways, and it never hurt to meet new people.

Leanne scribbled something on her parchment and slid it over towards Katie. _Are you thinking about it?_

Katie smiled and wrote back. _Yes._

Leanne rolled her eyes. _And…_

Katie thought about it some more. _And… maybe it's a good idea _

Leanne smiled and excitedly wrote. _Great! Marko said that he wanted me to have dinner with him on the Durmstrang ship, I'll ask if you and Andrei can come._

Katie drew a smiley face.

. . . .

Alicia absently stared out the window at the late night sky, her half finished Potions assignment laying in front of her.

"Hey, guess what?" Katie said in a happy singsong voice as she flittered across the common room into the chair next to her.

"Hm? Oh, what?" Alicia tilted her head, looked at her essay, and picked up her quill.

Katie looked at her with a beaming smile. "Leanne set me up with one of Marko's friend and the four of us had so much fun!"

"Oh! Is he cute? Did you have a lot in common? Is he one of those people that never talks, because that's _really _boring? Was he cute? What was the Durmstrang ship like? Any chemistry? Oh and was he cute?" Alicia fired question after question at her.

Katie laughed. "Actually he's really cute, he's half American half Bulgarian and he has these amazing amber eyes, but that's not really the point. We had a _lot _in common we talked about like everything."

"Chemistry?" Alicia prompted.

Katie shrugged. "I don't know… I wasn't thinking about that."

"What?! You were in the presence of two Bulgarian hotties and you did _not _think about the chemistry between you and…"

"Andrei." Katie filled in the blank. "Not really, I told you I'm not really onto boys as of the moment, Andrei and I are going to be really good friends."

Alicia gave Katie a knowing look. "Maybe for now, but that won't last long. I mean look at us. Lee has been asking Angelina out since third year after two years' solid friendship. And then Angelina, and me. Sometimes you don't know how hard is actually is to just be friends with someone."

"It's not impossible." Katie said airily.

"No, for some people it never happens, but it's what happens around you matters, and it's _already _happening. Besides, I know you, you're too nice and too naïve, and that tends to make things messier than if things were the opposite way around."

"What? That's like saying I'm stupid…"

"No, it's not." Alicia said pointedly. "Stupid is when you don't know anything and you just proceed on, naïve is when you don't realize what things really mean."

"But not knowing what things mean _is _not knowing."

Alicia sighed. "It's _not _the same, it's just not. You're not stupid because Addie and Jenny have taught you very important things, but since you've never actually had experience you're not always that great at recognizing signs and you interpret them wrong."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Whatever… I don't like to get caught up in the love scenes anyways. Too much drama."

"Hey, speaking of that." Alicia said, putting her quill down after completing her fifth paragraph and looking around to make sure no one was listening. "Has Angelina told Lee the truth yet?"

"I don't think so." Katie said.

"Honestly I don't think she's going to." Alicia picked up her quill again and scribbled a topic sentence for her second-last paragraph. "She's liked Fred for too long, and she's ready to do anything to get his attention. Too big a part of her wants to see him jealous and I guess it overrides her conscience."

"But she won't listen to us!" Katie voiced the biggest problem.

Alicia checked _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _and then scrawled another two sentences. "Well we've done all that we can do without making it a more serious situation than it already is!"

Katie frowned. "Maybe if we talked to her she'd feel better about having support."

"I don't think so. She's only gotten madder every time we talk to her." Alicia flicked through chapter seven and stopped on a section about Siamese Snapping Sprouts.

"That's true." Katie said. "Maybe she's got a plan."

"I highly doubt that." Alicia said matter-of-factly.

. . . .

Angelina looked up at the clock and was startled to see that it was already five minutes to nine. She hurriedly gathered her things into her bag and left the library. Since she had absolutely no idea how she was going to attempt to fix things, Angelina decided that by hiding in the library during her free time she could at least prevent further damage. _So really I'm doing a good thing and not being a coward by hiding behind books, _she had convinced herself.

When she got into the third floor corridor Angelina broke into a run, if any of the teachers caught her it would mean detention and life was bad enough as it was. She managed to get onto the last staircase to the Gryffindor tower and scrambled up without watching where she was going and stopped short of running into someone just in time.

"Oh, it's you." Angelina snapped. She was not in the mood to deal with Amaiko and Kitoko at the moment, but they had that sickly smile that made her feel uneasy.

"Yes, it's us." Kitoko mused, perfectly at ease. Next to her Amaiko smirked at her, looking evil and as if she knew something Angelina didn't.

"And seeing you has never brought good news." Angelina said.

"Jealous?" Amaiko leaned against the railing of the staircase.

"What?!"

"You will be." Amaiko examined her perfectly polished fingernails.

"Why would I be jealous of _you?" _Angelina snarled. "Because it's over." Amaiko said

"What do you mean?" Angelina said nervously. She heard people coming up the stairs, but she ignored it.

Amaiko and Kitoko looked like they were enjoying this.

"Maybe you're just tactless or not pretty enough for him to like you," Amaiko paused to flip her smooth, silky black hair over her shoulder, looking haughty. "but it's still cruel to use Lee as a stepping stone to get to his best friend, don't you think so Fred?"

"What?!" Angelina whirled around and saw the shocked, angry, and confused expressions of Lee, Fred, and George.

"Lee, it's not what you think!" She cried.

"Actually, it very much is." Angelina turned around again to Amaiko holding up two pieces of paper. One was Lee's song, and the other the missing page of her Charms notes, on the bottom and in the margins were doodles of cartoon Angelina and Fred (unfortunately drawn in very good likeness) and his initials with hearts around them.

Tears welled up in her eyes, _this is not happening_.

"Can I see that?" Fred said tentatively.

"No!" Tears spilled onto her cheeks and Angelina reached to grab the papers, but Amaiko held them out of her reach and handed them to Fred.

"Angelina…" The papers curled into flames and the ashes dropped on the staircase. It was one of those spontaneous magical things that happened when people were angry.

Fred stared at her with angry disbelief. Next to him George looked at her, shocked at what she had done. Worst, was Lee's mingled expression of hurt, betrayal, and sadness that pierced Angelina. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The truth, the whole hideous truth, had expanded in her throat and she choked, unable to speak.

"I can't believe it." Lee said quietly. "I guess I should have known." He was the first to leave, followed by George, who was silent.

"I knew something was different, but I guess I didn't understand the magnitude of it." Fred turned to follow.

"Wait!" Angelina whispered, unable to truly speak.

But Fred continued on without looking back.

_**Don't you just loooooove dramatic endings?? Well I do. I postponed the ruining of Angelina's life, I was going to have it last chapter, but it felt too rushed. This is definitely better (or I guess worse for Angelina) don't you think? **_

_**Anyways, please review :) I love getting them and it's really fun to get new ideas from people. It takes about three seconds, pleeeeaaaseeee.  
**_


	7. The Room of Clandestinity

The Truth About Love- Chapter 7

_**Thanks Vero, Cam, and danalexkayarimad for having reviewed every chapter, I seriously think you might be the only people out there who read this.**_

"Morning already?"

"Oh I was having this great dream…"

"What do you think? Should I wear this top or this one?"

"Definitely the second one. The first one is cuter, but we have Herbology today, so you might want to wear something else."

Angelina pulled her pillow over her head and groaned. The other girls in her dorm were already chattering amongst themselves as they prepared for the day. Alicia was fully dressed and putting books in her bag. Kim and Tina were discussing their dreams, which they hurriedly scribbled down in pink notebooks for Divination. Caroline was sharing the latest gossip with Jillian and Alicia who didn't really care, but listened anyways.

"…and then so she dumped him." Caroline rolled her eyes. "I can't believe it! She _must _know that other girls were vying to be Chris Liang's girlfriend. I mean he is _gorgeous _and she was lucky to have him in the first place, everyone knows he used to like the Fujimara twins. But now everyone knows Kitoko and Amaiko are after Fred and George, it's more than obvious."

Angelina wasn't sure she could stand having to hear his name. Knowing she would be late to class, she dragged herself out of bed and spent half an hour in the shower trying to wake up. By the time she was done and went back to her dorm everyone had already left for breakfast and she still hadn't convinced herself to go face Lee and Fred in class. She took her time getting dressed, drying her hair, and getting her books and finished homework together.

After dawdling for another hour she had no excuses to stay and slowly descended the stairs to the common room, where some people had already returned from breakfast for their free period. By the time she made it down to the dungeons for Potions she was twenty minutes late.

"Ah Miss Johnson, twenty minutes late, that will be twenty points from Gryffindor." Snape said lazily.

All the seats were filled except for one at Amaiko and Kitoko's table, which they seemed to have purposely left empty. Angelina had missed the explanation of Vericiane's Fifth Law and had absolutely no idea how knowing the common ingredients in a poison and its antidote helped identify the correct match. She stared at the six vials of dark blue potion, having absolutely no idea which were the poisons and which were the antidotes.

"You know Angelina, I should really thank you." Amaiko said, as she poured one of the vials into her cauldron. "If it weren't for you I might not be on such good terms with Fred." She rearranged her smug features into a convincing look of sympathy. "Poor thing, he really did like you, but he didn't know you could be so cruel."

Angelina grit her teeth and pulled the stopper out of one of the vials. She tried to ignore what Amaiko had just said, but it was getting to her. She dumped the potion into her cauldron and stared at the contents with absolutely no idea how to find its ingredients. Behind her, she heard someone use the _specialus revelio _spell and tried it. She scribbled down the ingredients, but had no idea how it would help.

Amaiko opened her textbook. "It's interesting really, I didn't know he was so complex. You would never know that underneath all that nonchalance and carefree humor, he kept all these secrets and hidden emotion."

Angelina's hand shook as she siphoned the potion back into the vial. How did Amaiko know that?

"He was hurt you know." Amaiko continued. "And I'm sure _you _know that he retreats into a secret room on the fifth corridor to study when he's upset."

There was the sound of smashing glass. Angelina had dropped the vial and it burst into flames on the floor. "_Aguamenti!" _She hurriedly put out the fire and fixed the vial, but there was no retaining the potion.

"Oh you didn't know that?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement with a tantalizing leer. Amaiko ran a polished fingernail down the index of potions. "I would think that after being _such _good friends with him that you would know."

"Shut up." Angelina said, slamming the second vial down on the table, nearly breaking it.

Amaiko smirked. She knew she had hit a nerve. "Funny, I would think he trusted you enough to tell you. Well I suppose it doesn't matter. You're yesterday's news. He's got someone else to confide in. Did you know George suspected your intentions, but Fred defended you? He was so upset to find out the truth."

"You should have identified at least three of the vials by now." Snape said, prowling around their table. Angelina panicked, how was she supposed to identify them? Kitoko and Amaiko had already identified three and set them aside. "You three, show me what you've done."

"These three are poisons." Amaiko pointed to the three vials she set aside. "Essence of Solanine, found in black nightshade, Delphinium Draught, named after the poisonous plant used as its main ingredient, and Hemlock Extract, which paralyzes the central nervous system, killing the victim within five minutes."

Snape nodded curtly and turned to Kitoko. "Miss Fujimara?" Angelina took this opportunity to hurriedly open up _Advanced Potion Making _to its index and looked up the three poisons Amaiko had just listed.

"These two are poison, Delphinium Draught, and Essence of Solanine. This is the antidote to Hemlock Extract."

Angelina tried not to fidget as she desperately tried to find identifying characteristics of the potions, but they all looked the same to her. "Ah, and Miss Johnson, who seems to think she knows enough to skip the beginning of class. _You _must be able to identify all six of these and enlighten us as to how." Snape drawled.

"Um…"

"Well?"

She randomly pointed to one of the vials and desperately hoped for _something _to go right, "Um that one is Essence of Solanine."

Snape remained silent, which she took to mean she was right. By a brilliant stroke of luck she correctly identified all six potions and did not have to say she didn't know how she did it when someone accidentally knocked over their cauldron and it burned a hole in the dungeon floor.

Amaiko narrowed her eyes at Angelina and gave her a look of such intense loathing that she felt her triumph dissolve into fear. Instead of taunting her, Amaiko let cold silence speak for itself and Angelina could tell she was conspiring against her. As soon as Snape dismissed the class she hurried to return the vials and was out of her seat before the rest of class had registered his words.

In her haste to leave she ran straight into George who didn't even look at her. Even though she was the first to bolt out of the dungeon, she failed to avoid Lee, who despite being angry, still looked hurt, and Fred, who glared at her, daring her to speak up and forcing her into silence. Just before leaving she caught a glimpse of Amaiko approaching Fred.

She had used up her miracle.

. . . .

"Oh come _on._" Katie said, sounding annoyed, as she piled her plate with food. Lee was merely picking at the spaghetti on his plate. George and Alicia gave her sideways glances from their conversation. "And why in the world are you _reading _Fred?" Never in living memory had he willingly picked up a book and retained the information in it.

"I'm about failing Transfiguration." Fred said, sliding his last essay (which earned a P) towards Katie. "McGonagall says its detention if I get three failing grades in a row and this is my third, but she said if I can answer a sheet of review questions on chapters one through four of this book she'll let me off the hook this time."

Katie sighed and turned to Lee, who pretended to drop his fork and retreated under the table. "Fine, but I really think that you should just go talk to her. She's really upset and I don't think she meant to hurt anyone."

"I'm fine." Lee said from under the table.

"No one listens to me." Katie declared.

"No one wants to." Alicia said. "You can't pretend she didn't get what she deserved, and don't tell me she's crying about her life being ruined, because this should never have happened in the first place. If she's upset it's her own fault and at the very least she should have tried to apologize to him."

. . . .

Alicia scanned the row of ancient and dusty volumes on the shelf in front of her. She ran her finger along the edge of the shelf as she searched for a book in particular. _Pictrangelli, Pictrangelli, why isn't it here??_ She hovered between two books where the book she was looking for should have been located.

"Hey."

"Eep!" Alicia whirled around and slammed her arm against the wooden shelf. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" George asked.

She rubbed her arm. "Fine."

"Did I scare you?" He grinned.

"Just a little." Alicia turned back to the books. "Gosh, she said it wasn't checked out, so it should be here!" She moved the two books aside to see if it was behind them.

"What are you looking for?"

"Pictrangelli's book of fundamental transfiguration principles," Alicia answered. "They're not exactly basic though, Professor McGonagall said next week we're going to work on changing our own appearances and it's really difficult and I've been barely getting by on her lessons lately."

"You're looking at the wrong row then." George said. "These are books on defense against the dark arts. Transfiguration books are on that shelf."

Alicia smacked her forehead. "Of course! Sorry, I've been just… stressed I guess. I keep getting things mixed up. I can't believe it, looking on the wrong shelf…" She walked over to the shelf of transfiguration books.

"Oh I found it." George reached up to the top shelf, beyond Alicia's reach, and pulled out a dusty blue volume. He handed it to Alicia.

"Thanks." She put it in her bag. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Looking for you."

Alicia paused in the middle of adjusting the strap of her bag. "Me?"

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to get away from everyone else." _So does that mean he wanted to be with me alone? _"Lee's creating a really depressing atmosphere and Fred disappeared, not that he's been fun anyways."

"And what about you? You're okay?" Alicia was, of course, not talking about Angelina.

George shrugged. "Better than before." He said, a bit softer than before.

"That's good." Alicia said quietly. "Hey, no being upset." She lightly shoved him with her shoulder. "You just said you didn't like that."

"No, I was just thinking."

"Hmm no wonder I thought wrong, you never think." Alicia chided.

George smiled. "That was uncalled for." The two of them walked out of the library.

"But it's true."

"Is not!"

"Is too."

"Is not."

"_Is_."

"Is _not_."

"Is not."

"Is too. Oh wait…"

"Ha." Alicia smiled triumphantly.

"But you admitted it first." George pointed out.

Alicia made a face at him and they laughed. "Okay, fine, truce."

"Only if you admit that I won."

"Fine." Alicia pouted.

"Cheer up." George put his arm around her and they stepped onto a staircase. "I want to show you something."

. . . .

Angelina ducked behind a shelf of books as Alicia and George walked past, teasing each other. _Lucky. _She was about to go back to her Herbology assignment when Kitoko silently walked past her, obviously unhappy.

"No luck?" Amaiko breezed into the library, making a face at all the books.

Kitoko shook her head.

"Well they're not together yet. It's actually easier when they are." Amaiko leaned against the very shelf Angelina was hiding behind.

"Guess that'll have to wait." Kitoko said, gathering her stuff. "I'm going back to the common room. I might not need George. You know Vera broke up with Chris Liang? He's hotter than George for one thing."

"I don't know." Amaiko ran her fingers through her glossy black hair. "Chris is kind of arrogant." Angelina fought the urge to laugh. How could someone like Amaiko think another person was arrogant?

Kitoko shrugged. "Some people would say Fred and George are, but what does it matter? Any guy would get down on his knees for a chance to be with us. It helps to be unbelievable gorgeous." She took out a mirror from her bag and checked her eye makeup.

"True." Amaiko said as the two of them headed out the library. "I'll see you in the common room later, I've got a certain red-headed hottie waiting for me."

"And you're calling Chris Liang arrogant?" Kitoko rolled her eyes.

Angelina hurriedly stuffed her things in her bag and followed Amaiko, who was humming a song by the Weird Sisters and checking her reflection in a tiny mirror, not paying attention to anything. Amaiko dug into her bag and took out two lip glosses. "Hm, is he going to like peach mango, or cherry strawberry?" She checked her reflection again and held up the two lip glosses. "Everybody likes strawberry." Amaiko held up the mirror and applied sparkly lip gloss while walking, something Angelina could not have done without walking into a wall.

Amaiko went up one flight of stairs to the fourth floor and then stopped again to look for her brush. Angelina hid behind a large suit of armor, not that Amaiko was aware of anything. She was examining her reflection. Finally she stepped on another staircase, but instead of getting off at the corridor on the other side she waited for the staircase to turn again. Here Amaiko stopped again to check her reflection and apply more lip gloss.

_Gosh someone's a little self-obsessed_, Angelina rolled her eyes. She had never seen anyone so vain.

Amaiko continued through the corridor until she stopped at a large square floor to ceiling tapestry where six ancient looking wizards and three witches were sitting at a table, hands folded, talking to each other. Angelina ducked behind a statue of an elf and watched as all the figures in the tapestry turned to look at Amaiko.

"Oh it's you again." One of the witches said distastefully.

"Yes it is." Amaiko said haughtily, putting her brush back in her bag. She closed her eyes for a second, and then walked right through the tapestry and disappeared.

Angelina frowned. When Amaiko had said secret room she thought it was a regular room no one went into, not one of the hidden rooms of Hogwarts that usually required strange means to get in. Unfortunately there was no password or incantation to enter, otherwise Angelina would have just copied Amaiko, but somehow just walking into the tapestry didn't seem like the right thing.

Leaving her spot behind the elf, she cautiously approached the tapestry.

"And I assume you're here to see him too?" The same witch said.

Angelina preferred not to answer that question. "How do I get in?"

The wizard at the head of the table scoffed. "Well wouldn't you like to know. Unfortunately that would defeat the purpose of the Room of Clandestinity."

"The Room of What?"

"Clandestinity." A second witch chirped. "It means secret."

So literally, this was a secret room. "I have to walk through the tapestry right?" Angelina continued. "I saw that part."

"Yes." One of the wizards answered. "That's not all."

Angelina paced the length of the tapestry for five minutes, trying to think of how to get in. Finally one of the witches spoke up. "You have to think of something while you walk in." She said, picking up a cluster of grapes.

"Think of something?" Angelina said. "Okay… that makes sense." She stopped in front of the tapestry and thought about it for several minutes before arriving at the answer. "I think I get it…"

She looked up at the tapestry. To enter the Room of Clandestinity you had to give it your secret for wanting to go in. She closed her eyes and imagined Fred and how she wished he would talk to her. Then she walked through the tapestry. Luckily she had not walked into an open room, instead she stood in front of a door, which was half open, letting voices drift out.

"Sometimes you realize you never know people for who they are." Amaiko said softly, very unlike her usual haughty tone. "People never understand, I'm not just a pretty face, or some paper flower. I have depth too, and sometimes it's like they don't think I have feelings. People are like that, they think only of themselves and look down on other people."

"I guess that's just the way we are. I misjudged you. I've been doing that a lot, I misjudged Angelina too."

Angelina peeked through the crack between the wall and the door. The room they were in was softly lit by candles all around. Amaiko and Fred had ignored the chairs on the other side of the room and were sitting against the wall, opposite the door. Angelina quietly closed the door a few more inches and then moved to the opening in the door to get a better view.

"So you and I… we're not that different." Amaiko said.

_Yeah right. Not that different?! _

"I guess not."

Amaiko's hand inched closer to his until her fingers intertwined with his, but only for a brief second. She pulled her hand back. "Oh… I—I'm sorry." She looked away with a credible expression of guilt, longing, and conflict. "Oh I'm horrible." She stood up, with a look of utter confusion. "I—I should go. I'm sorry. I can't… you… and… I just... sorry." She grabbed her bag and turned to leave.

Angelina flattened herself against the wall, in case Amaiko should really walk out. It was all just an act, she could tell, but there would be nothing worse than the two of them seeing her eavesdrop on their conversation. She could only imagine Fred would only become angrier and Amaiko even more smug.

"No, Amaiko." Fred stood up in front of her. "It's okay. It's fine."

Angelina's hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a gasp. _It's okay? How is it okay? Why is it 'fine'??? Why aren't you running away from her?! Why, why, why?!?!?! Of all people, it had to be Amaiko… couldn't it have been Alicia or Katie or Caroline or anyone, _any_one else??_

"No, it's not." Amaiko said miserably. "I can't help it… I just… you… I wouldn't to hurt you since what… what happened." She refrained from saying Angelina's name. "I… never mind, we're not the same, I'm a horrible person… you don't… you wouldn't.." She seemed unable to force herself to finish.

Angelina bit her lip, hard. This couldn't be real. What _was _Amaiko saying? Was she admitting that she was a horrible person, or was this all anther act? She didn't understand anything. What was she playing at?

"Amaiko, Amaiko stop it. You are not a horrible person. You don't have to hold back. It's okay."

Both hands were covering her mouth to keep her crying silent. Shaking, Angelina turned away from the door. She couldn't watch. Her legs gave away and she collapsed on the floor. _Is this what I deserve? Did I really bring this on myself? _How could she face the truth? That she had hurt someone and in turn she was going to receive worse?

"Really?" The candlelight had lit up the glittering teardrops on Amaiko's eyelashes. "Is it really okay?"

There was a slight hesitation and then Fred spoke again, "I'm moving on." Through her fingers Angelina saw him turn away slightly, without knowing Amaiko's true intentions behind the act.

Amaiko grabbed his hand and placed it on her waist. He turned again to look at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She looked up at him, and then hesitated for a second, before leaning forward all the way and placing her glossed lips against his. "Is this still okay?" Amaiko whispered, her eyes staring at him with a burning hunger as she smoothed her hands over the muscles in his chest.

Without waiting for an answer Amaiko snaked her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, and kissing him once more.

_**You didn't **_**really _think you saw the last of Amaiko did you? _**

**_The Room of Clandestinity is completely made up, I just went on to find a better word for secret._**

**_And in case you didn't pick up what Amaiko ment when she said she was 'a horrible person' she was not admitting that she actually was a horrible person. She meant that as a friend she should understand that right now was a bad time for her to admit she liked him and that she didn't want to hurt him, and that's why she was a horrible person. But really, we all know she actually IS a horrible person and her act is just confirming it all._**

_**I know no one's going to listen, but it would be really nice to get some more reviews. Thanks again Vero, Cam, and danalexkayarimad for being regular reviewers, it means a lot :)  
**_


	8. Cut with Words

The Truth About Love- Chapter 8

_**Hey, here's a short (but still long since it covers very little) chapter. THANKS SO MUCH to my regular reviews from danalexkayarimad (dana for short in the future, it's much easier), Vero, Cam, AND awesome reviews from qaz22 and anonymous reviewer Julie as well. You guys are awesome :) This chapter is specifically for dana, she's been bugging me about making peace since like chapter 4.**_

Amaiko left first. She walked right through the wall containing the tapestry on the other side, taking no notice to anything except herself.

Slowly, Angelina picked herself up off the floor and grabbed her bag.

"What are you doing here?"

She almost didn't recognize his voice, it was cold, hard, and full of anger. His eyes were set in stone. Angelina saw he had the same unwelcome similarity as several of the Slytherins they so hated. This was not the Fred she knew.

"I…" There were several things she wanted to say, but she was unable to put thoughts and feelings into words. She swallowed back her thoughts on Amaiko and managed to say, "I'm sorry."

Fred shook his head. "No you're not. You're only sorry Amaiko found out. You didn't care about anyone else you hurt."

Angelina felt more tears welling up in her eyes and with difficulty, she swallowed the burning feeling back. "I—that's not true… you, you don't understand!"

Fred scoffed. "You know you're right. I don't even know who you are anymore." He stepped right past her and through the wall.

. . . .

Katie checked her watch. "It's late, I think I'm going to bed."

Just then Fred crossed the common room.

"Hey, where have you been?" Alicia asked.

"Nowhere." He said tersely, taking the stairs two at a time.

Alicia and Katie looked at each other with shocked expressions. "I'm starting to think we might be the only sane people here." Alicia said. "I mean really, this is too much."

"Just because he's in a bad mood doesn't mean it was because of her." Katie said, closing her books and rolling up her essays.

"At least George has been acting normal." Alicia smiled and turned back to her book, another one of Caroline's muggle romance novels. "And please, don't tell me that we should do something. Angelina caused the damage, so she needs to be the one doing damage control."

Katie shoved all her things into her bag. "Okay, I think Lee finding out what happened is better than letting this carry on, but Amaiko didn't have to tell them about her crush on Fred, _that _was too much."

"True, but it was a risk that she chose to take. She knew who she was dealing with." Alicia said, opening up her book.

Katie slammed three library books down on the table, hard. "Alicia don't you get it? It doesn't matter if she deserves it or not!! She's our friend and in case you haven't noticed this is hard on Lee and Fred too. She's not the only person who's hurt and you should care too!" Usually a very easy going person, this outburst was unexpected.

Alicia calmly inserted a bookmark into the novel before closing it. "Are you listening to what I'm saying? If we always bail her out then she's never going to learn and this is going to keep happening. And yes, I'm aware that other people are upset, but what can we do? She's the one that caused it and no matter what you say to Fred and Lee it won't change what she did."

Suddenly Angelina burst into the common room sobbing. She ran across the common room, up the stairs, and then disappeared.

Katie gave Alicia a hard look. "_Now _do you think we should do something?"

. . . .

"Fred get up." Katie jumped onto his bed. "Fred! Fred Weasley!" She sighed and pulled the blanket off. "Get up!"

"Go away…" Fred mumbled.

Katie shook his shoulders.

"Ten more minutes Mum…" Fred rolled over.

Katie started jumping up and down on the bed. It didn't work so she pulled out her wand. "_Aguamenti!" _A stream of cold water shot forward at him and he sat up.

"What?!" He said irritably.

"I need to talk to you." Katie said in a singsong voice. "So I need you fully awake, and if you're not… well I need to practice the Aguamenti Charm anyways."

Fred ran his fingers through his wet red hair. "Shoot." The dorm was empty, everyone had already left. Fred was a late sleeper so Katie decided to get him while he was sleepy.

"Okay I could ramble on for half an hour and you'd never really get what I'm talking about, or I can just get to the point and that only takes thirty seconds, which one?" Katie asked.

Fred sighed. "Just get to the point."

"Obviously what happened the other day made us all really mad, but Angelina's really upset. She didn't really mean to hurt anyone and—"

"Hold on. _This _is what you woke me up for? I'm going back to sleep."

"No!" Katie pulled him into a sitting position. "Listen to me! I know it makes you mad to know that Angelina used Lee and really hurt him. He's your best friend, and he's _my _friend, but Angelina's your friend too."

"Was." Fred interjected.

"No, IS!" Katie said so forcefully that he didn't argue. "Just listen to me okay? And no interruptions."

"Just go on…"

"You know Angelina only did it because she liked you. A lot. And if it were any more obvious she would have to scream it at the top of her lungs in the Great Hall. You like her too. That much is obvious too, although I know you'd rather jump off the North Tower than admit it, because you are Fred Weasley and you're stubborn and don't like it when other people are right."

"Hey, that's not true—"

"No interruptions!" Katie reminded him. "And I know that if it were the other way around and you pretended to go out with Alicia to make Angelina jealous you would want your chance to explain what you did."

"But I _didn't _go out with Alicia to—"

"You're interrupting! Just listen!"

"I'm listening!"

"I'm not saying what she did was right. I'm not saying that it wasn't better for Lee to find out before this got worse. But let's go back to you and Alicia, YES I know that's not true, but hypothetically. If… I don't know, Marcus Flint suddenly revealed that you liked Angelina and were using Alicia your life would be ruined wouldn't it?"

"Well yes but—"

"That was a rhetorical question, shut up and listen." Katie continued, "So do you get it now?"

"Am I allowed to answer or was that another rhetorical question?"

"You're allowed to answer."

"Yes, BUT and just _let_ me talk for once, it still doesn't make what she did okay. I can relate to her, but I'd never do anything that stupid, unlike her, I actually care about my friends."

"Well she IS your friend!" Katie said loudly. "And you still care about her, even though there's a higher chance of you being Snape's star student than you ever admitting it."

Fred stared at her in disbelief. "Katie, would you _please _stop trying to act like you know me?"

Katie whirled around. "I do know you! You're one of my best friends! You're like my brother! And Angelina has been like my sister ever since I got here. I don't like it when my friends fight."

"Katie don't give me that look. I meant that you don't necessarily know everything about me and you don't know everything about Angelina either. If things were the other way around do you think she would defend you?"

Katie backed up and sat down on George's unmade bed. "Of course she would." She said defiantly. But her tone didn't match the look of uncertainty that had momentarily crossed her face.

Fred sighed. "Ka-tie," He stressed her name into two syllables. "I don't think you get it."

"Can't you just stop being so stubborn?? I know the real reason you won't talk to her is because you still like her. You've never shown it because you knew Lee liked her. So when she said she'd go out with Lee you tried to be happy for them right? But it made you really mad to know that she wasn't the same person you liked and you don't want anyone to know that you're still falling for her. Isn't that right?"

Katie clapped a hand over her mouth, knowing she had gone over the line.

"I'm sorry! I didn't—I just wish you two would stop fighting! It's hurting you too!"

Fred stared at her with an expression of defiant anger, but something was clouding his eyes and Katie could tell that whether or not he wanted to listen she was right, and she had cut him with words.

"Fine. If Lee lets it go then I will too." Fred said quietly. "I'm going down for breakfast." He stripped off his shirt and started digging in his trunk for a clean one. "And please stop bringing it up, I think we're all sore of the subject."

Katie turned around to face the blank wall on the opposite side and curled up on George's bed. She bit her lip, unsure of what she had just done. A small, but defiant voice spoke up in her head. _I'm doing the right thing._

. . . .

Angelina sat at her table in the library, wishing that like most people there, she could concentrate on her homework.

"Can I sit here?"

She looked up. Katie looked at her timidly, and behind her stood Alicia.

"Only if you're not going to tell me I got what I deserved."

Katie pulled out the chair and set down. Alicia hovered behind the chair on the opposite side before reluctantly pulling it out and sitting down. Angelina pushed her assignments away, sensing an important conversation, but unsure of what to say.

"I…" Katie started.

"We." Alicia corrected.

"We're sorry." Katie looked down at the table. "We've been horrible friends and—"

"What are you talking about?" Angelina interrupted. "It's all my fault! I thought you two would never speak to me again after what I did."

"We considered it." Alicia mumbled.

"It would serve me right if you did." Angelina admitted.

Alicia offered her a small smile. "But we wouldn't do that." The thing with Alicia was that you had to admit you were wrong if she was right.

"I wish Fred and George and Lee would talk to me or even look at me." Angelina burst into tears. "Except it's even more painful when they do. Yesterday… yesterday I—I saw F-fred and… and he was kissing Amaiko!"

"What?!" Alicia and Katie in disbelief. "He wouldn't!" Katie and Alicia exchanged significant looks.

"Well he did. They have some secret room where they meet and oh my god you should have seen them! She was so disgusting and fake. She said they were alike! And she was pretending to be all sympathetic and innocent and…" Angelina trailed off into sobs.

"But…" Katie seemed speechless. She and Alicia looked at each other, having both been nearly two hundred percent sure Fred still liked her. "That… he just, Fred wouldn't! I don't get it… he's not that kind of person, why would he?"

"I don't believe it." Alicia said bluntly. "Fred is… well he's Fred, which means silly, crazy, and aloof, but he's still… Fred! He wouldn't do that. He's a good person and no one is stupid enough to fall for Amaiko, that's crazy."

"So you think I'm lying?" Angelina wailed.

"Shhhhh! We're in a library!" Alicia hissed. "And… I don't think you're lying, but at the same time, I don't believe Fred would do that. It must have been someone else. There's a lot of pretty Asian girls that Fred could have been with. I mean there's Vera Yang, Grace Lin, Jenny Chen, or I don't know, even Caroline."

"Oh no, it wasn't Caroline, she was telling me about how she ran into Chris Liang." Katie said. "But there are a lot of girls you could mistaken to be Amaiko. I think you might be rushing to conclusions."

Angelina shook her head. "I _know _it was Amaiko."

"Well…" Katie said slowly. "If you really one hundred percent thing it was Amaiko then I believe you, I just really hope that it turns out to have been someone else. It's just… I don't want to believe Fred would do something like that."

"I don't either." Angelina said. "But I know what I saw."

"Let's forget that for a minute." Alicia said. "We have some sort of good news."

"Sort of? That's good enough for me."

"We talked to Fred and George." Alicia said. "And they're both willing to let it go if you talk to Lee and if he relents. But _you _have to be the one to talk to him and if he's still mad at you then really all hope's gone."

Angelina looked doubtful. "He won't even look at me, how am I supposed to talk to him?"

Katie and Alicia shrugged. "This is the part you have to deal with." Alicia said.

"Yeah, because it's my fault."

. . . .

"What did he say?" Angelina asked eagerly.

"First of all, we already told you we weren't going to _talk _to him for you, but we did talk to him for you… if that makes any sense." Katie said.

"But anyways, Lee's alone in their dorm for the moment." Alicia said. "So go talk to him. Don't freak out, he's still Lee, and he's still your friend, and if all else fails there's Chris Liang."

Angelina didn't laugh. "Really, you think I'd rather go out with Chris Liang than have three of my best friends back?"

"Just kidding…" Alicia said. "But I'm seriously considering him. I mean there's George of course, but I'm not going to screw things up just when they were going so well."

"Can we focus on my issues now? They're slightly more dire, as in, you know, my whole life is falling apart!"

"If you can joke you're going to be fine." Katie said. "Now go, before the guys come back and ruin your chance."

Angelina hesitated, at the door of her dorm, "Can't you at _least_—"

"NO!"

Angelina took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door of the sixth year boys' dorm.

"Oh. It's you." Lee stood in the doorway, unmoving.

"Um, it's me. And I'm sorry—"

"For what? Pretending to like me to make Fred jealous or the part when Amaiko had the decency you didn't to tell us what was going on?"

"The first. Just listen to me, please? Two minutes, that's all I need." Angelina pleaded.

"I don't need to hear what you have to say, I already know what it's going to be."

Hearing the way Lee was talking to her made Angelina want to just agree and flee back to the safety of her dorm, but she stood her ground. "Lee we've been friends for six years, and I don't know about you, but if you never talk to me again, I'd really miss you. I know what I did was wrong, and…" Angelina faltered.

"And what?"

Tears slid down her cheeks. "And if you never want to talk to me again I'll understand and I'll leave all of you alone. I just want to say I'm really sorry for what I did. I'm really sorry because I should have thought about how you would feel, especially since we've known each other for so long. I'm sorry that I threw away six years of friendship for nothing. I know what I say will never change what I did, but I wish I didn't." Angelina looked away, trying to stop the flood of tears.

"Hey, all you had to do was say sorry." Lee wrapped her in a hug. "It's okay."

_**Okay so Angelina's karma is now pretty evened out... it doesn't change the fact that Amaiko is still evil or that she so didn't deserve to be forgiven in thirty seconds, but it's all okay now right??**_

_**Reviews please :) They help a lot and any ideas are welcome and if you think you have a punishment worthy of Amaiko let me know because they're fun to read and because I don't think my ideas are quite enough for what she did :P  
**_


	9. Between the Said and Unspoken

The Truth About Love- Chapter 9

_**Okay so we've made peace for Angelina with Katie, Alicia, Lee, and George. Too bad the drama doesn't get to end yet...**_

Katie stared at the pitch black darkness outside the common room window, her heart feeling heavy. She sighed and curled up in the large chair, putting her arms around her knees and pulling them close to her. Her year at Hogwarts was heading for a downward spiral. Between the vigorous studying, ever amounting piles of homework, and constant dread of O.W.L.'s things were already looking dismal. Letters from her brother and sisters had only added onto her worries. Then there was helping Angelina and Fred. She had barely thought about _him _all year until now.

"Are you okay?" Leanne asked.

"I'm fine." Katie said absently.

"You don't look fine." Leanne pursued.

Katie rubbed her eyes, refusing to cry. "I'm just tired." _Tired of being sucked up into the drama I so desperately wanted to avoid. God why do I have to even think about it?_

"I know what you mean, I barely have enough time to sleep as it is without this heap of homework to deal with." Leanne said.

"Yeah, I think it's all this stress from O.W.L.'s," _And the fact that my family is falling apart and I'm still busy worrying about my love life, _"I've seriously had it. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"You're lucky you can, I still have to finish this essay."

Katie gathered her things and trailed up the stairs, wishing she could be anyone but herself.

. . . .

"Hey, you." Amaiko snaked her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "I missed you."

"Hey." Fred smiled back.

Amaiko slid her hand down his shoulder and arm before intertwining their fingers in a showy way. "Do you want to meet at _our _place later tonight?"

"Um, I don't know. I've been stuck inside all day so I was thinking about going outside for some fresh air."

"Oooh we could hang out by the lake."

"I was thinking more about flying. It always takes my mind off things."

Amaiko brightened. "Okay! I've only flown once, when we had flying classes in our first year, it was a total disaster, I crashed into a tree, but I'm sure you're a way better teacher."

"Oh, well in that case maybe we'll stick by the lake, learning to fly might take a little longer."

"Sounds great! I'll meet you there in ten minutes." Amaiko smiled. "I really like spending time with you." She added, "We should do it more often."

. . . .

Alicia lay on her bed, with her homework spread out before her. "You _do _know how lucky you are right? Most people would _never _forgive you for what you did."

"Yeah, I was really surprised, but still really glad. That leaves only one more thing left to do." Angelina said, popping a gummy dragon into her mouth.

"Fred?" Alicia and Katie said together.

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Duh. What exactly am I supposed to do? He knows I like him now. I don't think I could face rejection so soon. But at the same time, I don't want to wait."

"Patience is a virtue." Katie said in a singsong voice. "One I don't have, admittedly, but I say wait this one out. First of all, what would you say to him? And I mean it's so awkward, what if it turns out he really _is _with Amaiko, I mean as much as no one wants to believe it."

"Maybe we should just ask him." Alicia said. "I mean we could pass it off as a piece of gossip we got from Caroline that we want to clarify _isn't _true."

"Hey, speaking of Caroline, did you see the way Chris Liang was looking at her? Some of the girls next to us nearly melted to the ground. The girls in my year all fantasize about him, it's pathetic." Katie fished out a blue gummy.

Alicia made a face. "I don't see what's so great about him either. I mean no one doubts he's hot, but he's one of those jaded rebel bad boys."

"You mean like George?" Katie teased.

"Yeah, but unlike Chris, who is just a jerk all the way through, underneath all the bigheadedness and immatureness George is a really funny, sweet, and charming person. And I like that. He's more than what you see on the surface. There's depth to him." Alicia said.

Katie rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "So, how exactly are you going to fix things with Fred?"

"I don't know… I can't really think about it right now, there's just so much going on."

Alicia followed Katie's gaze. "Angelina, I think you better think fast." She got up and opened the window all the way, but closed the curtains, leaving only two inches.

"Why?" Angelina got to her feet and peered through the curtains. Sitting by the lake and laughing were Fred and Amaiko. Amaiko put a hand to his chest, as if to say _stop, really, this is too much_. Anger bubbled inside Angelina and she pulled the curtains shut. "I can't watch this."

"This is important though." Alicia said, opening the curtains again. "You don't have to watch, but we're going to have to face the reality of it."

. . . .

"Where are you off to?" Kitoko asked as Amaiko hurried to gather her things.

Amaiko couldn't help but suppress a complacent smile. "Fred and I are meeting by the lake in a few minutes."

"Oooh lucky" Kitoko said.

"Any luck with Chris?" Amaiko asked, stopping in front of a floor length mirror she had put next to her dresser.

Kitoko sighed. "No…"

"That's too bad, he's gorgeous." Amaiko carefully reapplied her lip gloss. "I definitely wouldn't mind running into him." She puckered her lips.

"Fred not enough anymore?"

Amaiko smirked. "You know what Mom always tells us. No matter what you look like girls have a certain power to entrance guys. Every girl's got something, confidence, personality, brains, or beauty. Some people have more than one. I can't help it if I walk around making guys fall in love with me, it's just how I am." She puckered her lips.

Kitoko walked over to her own mirror and smiled seductively. "It's not our fault we were born with brains and beauty. Ultimately the two tools of power. Well that and money, but Daddy's got money and with gorgeous looks," She paused and looked haughtily at her reflection, "you can easily marry into a family of gold."

"Although you have to get your act together, because _someone_ has been out of it lately." Amaiko looked sympathetically at the mirror. "First you let George slip through your fingers and now you can't even get Chris to look at you. Did you see the way he was checking out Caroline Yin? Airheaded gossip monger."

"Well I decided that maybe I don't want George. I mean he's hot, but Daddy wants us to marry rich anyways. Besides, I can't _stand _his younger sister and brother. First of all, the girl is _so _whiny, always going on about how Harry has never looked twice at her and how everyone laughs at her for having secondhand clothes and books, _puh-leeze_." Kitoko sneered down at the mirror, which replicated her.

Amaiko looked apologetically at the mirror. "Do you think this looks innocent enough? Or should I coat more sugar into it? Maybe like this…" She widened her eyes, making them look doe-like and innocent and curved her lips down in a slight pout. "Yeah, that's it."

Kitoko turned to check her reflection at all angles before blowing a kiss and sitting down on her bed, satisfied with her appearance. "No, no, that overdoes it. Try crying, guys fall for that so easily. They get all confused and disoriented."

"Hmmm… you could use your own advice." Amaiko said. "I give you three more days with Chris and then it's my turn."

"Whatever… but we're _twins_, and therefore people see us as exact copies of each other."

Amaiko scoffed. "We'll see about that." She winked at the mirror and then flounced out the door.

Kitoko checked her expensive platinum-silver-and-diamond-studded watch and gave Amaiko two minutes of a head start before rushing out the common room and stepping on the staircase that would bring her to the third floor. She checked that no one was around before stepping off the staircase and hurrying down an abandoned third floor corridor. She stopped at what seemed like a solid stone wall and ran her hand over the surface until she found a particular groove and pressed down. The wall slid open to reveal a dimly lit room. She stepped in and the wall closed behind her.

"Hey babe, I was wondering where you were." Chris embraced her and she kissed his cheek.

"Sorry! I had to wait until Amaiko left." Kitoko threw her arms around Chris and held on. "I miss you, we haven't met for two weeks."

"I know." Chris whispered into her ear. "But now that Vera's out of the way it's more time for the two of us."

"Just us?" Kitoko looked into his eyes. "Promise?"

Chris kissed her forehead. "Would I lie to you?"

Kitoko traced his jawline with her nose. "Just wanted to make sure. But now that Vera isn't a problem, we don't have to hide anymore."

Chris took her hands. "Kitoko, you know what it'll be like once people find out we're together. We're the object of jealousy and gossip every day already. Imagine what it would be like if people found out. Do you want that to tear us apart?"

"Chris…" Kitoko whispered his name. "Not even Amaiko knows. I'm tired of hiding, we hardly ever get to see each other! Last time was two weeks ago, and the time before was at least separated by a week."

"You know this is only because I love you, I'd never try to hurt you. I'm trying to protect you, protect _us_." His breath on her neck sent tingles down her spine. "I know you're strong, but everyone gets outnumbered at some point. I don't want that to happen to us."

"No." Kitoko lay her head on his chest. "It won't."

. . . .

Alicia looked longingly out the window. The dark blue night sky was blanketed in tiny twinkling stars. A cool breeze rustled the leaves of trees and caused flowers to waver. On top of it all the full moon shone, bathing everything in its liquid moonlight. Alicia sighed, the castle grounds looked like an enchanted garden.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" George asked, reading her mind. "I mean if you're done with your essay and stuff."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. It's such a beautiful night. But we're not allowed out past nine."

George smiled mischievously. "Technically yes, but I know a secret passage."

Alicia grinned back. "Lead the way."

The two of them climbed the spiral stairs leading up the Gryffindor tower. Three and a half flights up they stopped at a painting of two wizards. Behind them was a calendar. George pressed on the square marked for January 6 and the painting swung open to reveal a secret passageway.

"How do you find these passages?" Alicia asked.

George grinned, but didn't answer.

"You know I've found a secret passage I bet you don't know about." Alicia continued.

"Really? You're _sure _we don't know about it?"

Alicia smirked. "Yes."

"Does it lead outside of Hogwarts?"

"Nope."

"Do you use it a lot?"

"Sometimes, it depends."

"Don't tell me it's the one behind the suit of armor that leads to the library."

Alicia laughed dryly. "No, you can do better than that. Who needs a secret passage to get to the _library_?? No one wastes time on that."

"Hmmm… is it on the third floor? A lot of them are."

"No."

George looked intrigued. "Where does it lead to?"

"That's a secret." Alicia smiled knowingly. "Curious?"

"If I say yes will you tell me?"

Alicia pretended to think. "Oh, maybe."

"I guess that's good enough." George pushed open a door that was pretending to be a solid wall and they stepped out into the night. "Tell me something else then."

Alicia looked up at the sky. "You mean like a secret?"

George stared vaguely in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. "Just something I don't know."

"Hmmm," Alicia put her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt. "One of these days I'd like to just grab my broom and fly as far as I can and see where it takes me."

"I've thought about that too. Just forget about everyone else and see the rest of the world for myself. I think that'd be a real adventure."

Alicia turned to face him. "Would you take me with you?"

"Oh, maybe." He said in the same joking way she did previously.

"Fine, I'll go by myself." Alicia said.

George laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "But you'd be lonely. Maybe you should come with me."

. . . .

"Fred?" Angelina said timidly.

He looked up from his Transfiguration essay. "Hey." He said with no emotion in his voice before turning back to his essay. Alicia had agreed to edit and correct it for him when he finished writing it.

Angelina stood to the side, feeling awkward. She watched his candlelit profile as he wrote the last paragraph of his essay. His chiseled features were softened in the tapering light. She wished she could tell what he was thinking, or just ask the way she would have a week before. There was uneasiness in the space between them. Now that Amaiko had revealed Angelina's feelings she felt exposed, but she needed to know what had become of their relationship, or what was left of it.

"Can I sit here?"

"Fine." He set down his quill and skim-read his essay.

Angelina tried again. "I, um, talked to Lee."

"I heard."

"He forgave me." She said in a tiny voice.

"I know."

Fred's less-than-welcome tone was discouraging. Angelina sank into the chair opposite him and tried to block out the deafening silence.

. . . .

With a bag of sour gummies in one hand and her notes, quill, and review questions, Katie headed down the spiral stairs of the Gryffindor tower towards the common room for her favorite seat by the fire. _Only one more assignment… and then I can just relax and maybe I'll even get some sleep tonight_, she thought to herself.

"So... are you still mad at me?"

Katie stopped at the foot of the stairs. Fred and Angelina were sitting opposite each other in the corner of the common room. Angelina seemed to be unsuccessfully trying to talk to Fred. Not wanting to interrupt their moment, she quietly took a few steps back, but couldn't resist staying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Angelina pleaded with him. "Fred I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really, really, _really _sorry okay? I don't know how many times I have to say that, but I am. I don't know what it is I did that made you so mad at me, but I just wish we could go back to the way we were before. Before everyone found out the things Amaiko told you about me."

_And _I'm _naïve? There's no way either of them can go on being in the space between friends and more than friends with _that _in the way. Of course that's just because both of them are too afraid to admit it, otherwise this would all be straightened out, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that._

Fred put down his essay and stared straight into her eyes. "Do you really think that _you _could really just be friends without making things complicated?"

Katie drew in a sharp breath. For a moment she felt as if the question had been directed at her. _Well it's only the story of my life._

There was a heavy taciturnity in the atmosphere around them. Angelina looked away, breathing heavily, knowing that she had lost. She was unable to truthfully answer right, and at this point if she couldn't answer honestly or correctly then silence was better. Having accepted her nonverbal answer to be 'no,' Fred got up to leave.

_That's not right_. She wondered how two people who obviously had strong feelings for each other could walk away from them. It was one of those things that she felt shouldn't happen to anyone. _Everyone deserves to find love_. And what was happening wasn't fair to either of them.

"Angelina…" He said softly, looking down and without turning around. "I liked things the way they were, but honestly I don't think I can trust myself around you anymore."

"Wait," Angelina stood up. "I don't get it. What's that supposed to mean?"

Katie flattened herself against the wall and contemplated each of the words he said, and what they meant strung together as a whole. Unraveling the meaning between the said and unspoken she pieced together his meaning. Clearly he thought that his feelings for her were too freewheeling to be pacified by a relationship as just friends. _ You should be overjoyed_.

A small smile played on her face as she directed the thoughts partially to herself.

_**I live for melodramatics, so even though there's still peace I've entered in Katie with her issues, Amaiko wrecking havoc, and a more important part for Kitoko. **_

_**Thanks to the BRILLIANT idea by Cam (skateboard c, one of my awesome reviewers =D) I've got this whole new idea for revenge on Amaiko (and Kitoko, although she's not as important yet) but it's going to take a couple more chapters to get everything together. So if you've been wondering about Chris Liang his part gets more important.**_

_**Also, have any of you heard the song Between the Lines by Sara Bareilles? The part that says "Unraveling the meaning between the said and unspoken" reminds me of that song, because there's a line that goes 'Leave unsaid unspoken'**_

_**REVIEWS please :)**_

_**P.S. thanks to Vero, Dana, Cam (again), 4is, weasley's second daughter, and qaz22 for review/messages!! I looove reading them!  
**_


	10. The Networks of Gossip

The Truth About Love- Chapter 10

_**This chapter is probably the last one that correlates with the beginning. If you haven't noticed, the story started expanding to more than just Angelina and Fred. Minor characters are going to start being important, and I've got a feeling happy endings might not come until the end. That's just how the drama is! Thanks to Cam, Vero, Dana, and weasley's second daughter for their reviews.  
**_

"Why the long face?" Alicia said happily as they sat down in the Great Hall for lunch.

"Oh god, it's horrible, I don't think I can tell you. Because then I'd have to relive the moment and it was bad enough going through it once." Angelina said. It was the only reason she hadn't told Alicia and Katie at breakfast. It was also partly because Alicia was going on about her and George sneaking out for a moonlight walk.

Alicia looked at her sympathetically. "Okay at least tell us what he said."

"It's more what he didn't say." Angelina answered, poking her pasta with her fork. "He'd give me two word answers and there was like nothing in his voice, I couldn't tell if he was angry or upset."

"But he must have said something else." Alicia prompted. "It's not like him to walk away without saying what's on his mind."

Angelina played with her food. "He said 'I liked things the way they were, but honestly I don't think I can trust myself around you anymore.' I don't know what that means, but I decided that I'm going to give him space and leave him alone. Things are bad enough as it is and I don't want to misinterpret that and make things worse."

Alicia watched Katie curiously. She was rearranging the food on her plate and deep in thought. "Katie? What do you think?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering. It's unlike him to speak cryptically so I think whatever the most obvious meaning is should fit."

"That makes sense." Alicia said thoughtfully. "So then it means he liked things the way they were before all of this happened but he doesn't think he knows who you are and can't trust himself enough to stay friends after what Amaiko said."

Katie frowned. "No… that's not what it means. He meant that his feelings were too freewheeling to be pacified by a relationship as just friends."

"I'm not even sure what our relationship even was!" Angelina said.

"Oh that part's easy. It's kind of an in between friends and more thing." Alicia said airily. "But Katie I don't think that's what he meant. Because if he really did then he wouldn't have walked away because he knew that Angelina liked him."

"Not unless he was already with someone else." Angelina said bitterly.

"Hey!" Jillian and the other girls sat down next to them. "Guess what?" She asked excitedly.

"What?" Katie asked.

Caroline squealed with excitement. "We were coming down from Divination and guess what we heard when we passed the staff room on our way to Potions?"

"What?" Alicia asked.

"There's going to be a ball on Christmas!" Caroline said. "Isn't that great? I mean Hogwarts is this huge castle with all these cool secret rooms and passages and it's so fun to find places to meet guys, but sometimes it's so pitifully _un_romantic."

"Anyways, it's some Triwizard Tournament tradition to hold the Yule Ball on Christmas." Kim continued.

"I'm so excited!" Tina and Caroline said together. "I can't wait until they officially announce it. I mean this is just about the hugest thing that's ever happened here!" Tina said. "It'll be way better than senior prom my cousin was going on about."

"Oh my god!" Katie and Alicia said together. "I can't believe how great this is!" They looked at each other with glowing expressions. Both of them were sure George would ask Alicia, if anyone.

It seemed Angelina was the only one who looked at it as bad news.

. . . .

By the next day news of the Yule Ball was all people were talking about. Throughout the hallways, corridors, and in classrooms whispers of dates and dances traveled in the networks of gossip. Girls were seen cluttered in groups whispering and giggling, or sauntering with their date and bragging. Left and right people were being asked and rejected to the dance.

"Do you think he'll ask me?" Leanne asked Katie as the two of them packed up their things at the end of Potions.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Definitely. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but yes, he will ask you. And look, there he is to walk you to Transfiguration."

"Yeah, but there's Andrei too." Leanne pointed out. "Oooh! I bet he's here to ask you."

"For god's sake I hope not." Katie said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you that we are _just _friends, nothing more. Yes, we are very _good _friends, but not _more _than friends. Get it?"

"Okay… whatever you say." Leanne said as they left the class.

"Hey Marko, hi Andrei." Katie said.

"Hey." Leanne hugged Marko and kissed him on the cheek.

Katie and Andrei exchanged looks and Katie rolled her eyes in Leanne's direction. Marko had gotten down on one knee with an orange (Leanne's favorite color) rose and asked her to go to the Yule ball with her.

"Oh my god! Yes, yes, yes, yes, a million times YES!" Leanne squealed, throwing her arms around him.

Andrei raised an eyebrow in their direction. "Just a little too much?" Katie said sarcastically, continuing on towards Transfiguration.

"I thought so too." Andrei agreed. "That's why I thought I'd come along so you wouldn't have to be the awkward third wheel."

"Awww, that's sweet." Katie said.

Andrei smiled back at her. "So I guess you're trying to avoid all the talk about the ball aren't you?"

"You read my mind." Katie laughed.

"Just a little too much?" He imitated her.

"Hey!" She shoved his shoulder. "But yes, it is."

Andrei laughed. "Are you going single?"

"Most likely. You?"

"Maybe. It all depends."

Katie grinned. "Who are you asking?"

Andrei smiled mysteriously. "I'll tell you when she says yes."

. . . .

"A _dance?_" Lee said in disbelief. "That's the dumbest tradition ever!"

"I agree." Ron said as he, Harry, and Hermione caught up with them. "And _why _is it that guys have to ask girls?"

"Because it's traditional." Hermione answered.

"Another stupid tradition." Harry mumbled.

"You happen to be the Hogwart's champion." George pointed out. "Girls will line up to ask you whether its traditional or not."

Ron grumbled some more. "Do any of you have dates yet?"

Fred shrugged. "I don't know, Amaiko wanted to go together but she's kind of annoying."

"Amaiko Fujimara?" Ron's eyes bugged out. "But she's one of the hottest girls in school!"

"And she's nice and all, but she doesn't like sports or flying, she doesn't seem to like you or Ginny much, and we don't have much in common."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sounds like you have no chemistry."

"You couldn't by any chance convince her sister to go with me?" Ron asked.

"Kitoko? No thanks, she'd bite my head off, she hates me. Oh yeah and that's another thing to add to the list."

"End it with her." Harry and Hermione said together.

Ron's jaw dropped. "But… she's… Amaiko Fujimara? It must be nice to be you." Hermione scowled at him.

"What about you George?" Hermione redirected the conversation, still glaring at Ron.

He shrugged. "I don't know why everyone's making such a big deal out of it, the dance is a whole month away I can worry about it later."

"You should ask Alicia." Hermione said. "I saw you two strolling out in the gardens last night." She smirked.

"Alicia the Chaser?" Ron asked Harry. "She's cute."

"So? We needed some fresh air and it was a nice night." George said absently. He looked like he wasn't listening to the conversation and was preoccupied with thinking about something else.

"I still think you should ask her." Hermione insisted.

"I can't." George said.

Hermione frowned. "Why?"

"Because I've already asked someone else."

. . . .

"Guess what?" Tina said, glowing with excitement.

"Someone asked you too?" Jillian filled in.

"Wait what do you mean 'asked you too?'" Angelina said irritably. "You've already been asked?" She didn't mean it offensively. Jillian was a sweet girl a bit on the curvy side, but with lovely golden curls and sparkling green eyes.

Jillian blushed. "Yeah, Travis Golden asked me just before class."

"Really? Travis Golden? He's always been really nice and he's pretty cute." Caroline said. Her assessment of someone on first impression was how nice they were, and any specific attributes to their appearance. Of course their appearance wasn't top priority, but she tended to note these things first.

"Yeah, and he's helped me out with homework a bunch of times. He's really sweet, he's got a good-natured personality, and he's funny too. I've actually liked him since we were put in the same group for our Ancient Runes project a few weeks ago." Jillian blushed even more.

The girls all smiled. "That's so cute." Alicia said. "So who asked you Tina?"

"You know how I told you guys at the end of last year I really liked Mike Carter?"

"Oh my god." Kim said loudly. "Oh. My. God. He asked you?"

"Yes!" Tina squealed with excitement. "He asked me."

"You two are so lucky." Caroline said. "You were asked by people you liked first day, it's so perfect!"

"You got asked twice already." Jillian pointed out.

"Actually three times, but it doesn't matter how many people ask me if they're not the right person." Caroline said.

"And who _is _the right person?" Kim asked.

Caroline smiled dreamily. "Chris Liang. We are meant to be."

At this even Angelina couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Caroline, get a grip, please." Alicia said. "Chris Liang is too popular, and generally it's not a good idea to go out with someone who everyone wants to date. It makes for too much drama and too much gossip and a significant other."

"Oh speaking of too much gossip and drama… I heard Vera broke up with him because he cheated on her. She knew he was, but she never caught him and decided she didn't need any proof to break up with him and she wasn't going to stick around and wait for it." Tina added.

"Alright, enough about me and Chris, what about you Alicia? Angelina? Anyone asked you yet?"

"No." Angelina said.

"Um one."

"Who was it?" Caroline asked.

"Danny Malone." Alicia answered.

All the girls, Angelina excluded, gasped. "Danny Malone?" Caroline said breathlessly.

Kim sighed and looked at Alicia in wonder. "He's so hot! He's one of those fair-haired, tan-and-muscular-surfer-bodied, guitar-playing, down-to-earth guys. Why in the world did you say no? I would said yes in a heartbeat, that is if I could breathe with him around."

"Oh, it's because he's on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team isn't it?" Jillian asked. "He plays Chaser right? The same position as you. The Ravenclaws consider him their best player, a lot of girls like him, but _unlike Chris Liang_," She gave Caroline a pointed look, "he's really sweet and modest."

"Well kind of, I mean Fred and George would kill me if I went around dancing with the rival Quidditch team star player, but also because I kind of wanted to go with George. That's no guarantee he'll ask me, but I wanted to give it a chance. I told Danny that it was really sweet of him to ask and that I think it would be really great so I would think about it." Alicia said.

"He'll definitely ask you." Kim reassured her.

. . . .

"Did you think about what I said?"

"Um…" George said.

"About what?" Fred and Lee asked.

"Nothing." George said quickly. "And er… not really, I didn't think about it."

"Well you should." The four of them passed by a group of giggling girls from Beuxbatons who were on their way to dinner as well.

Lee was about to ask again what they were talking about when he tripped over his untied shoe. "It'll only take a minute, you guys go ahead." He said.

There was a sudden clattering noise. "Oh! You go ahead, I'll pick these up, it's okay." Three pearls rolled over next to Lee's foot. He tied off his shoe and picked them up. One of the girls in the group was picking up small pearls from the ground. Her necklace had broken and they were everywhere.

"There's an easier way. Hold out your hands." Lee said, handing the three pearls to her and pulling out his wand. "_Accio pearls._" A shower of pearls flew into her outstretched hands.

"Thanks." The girl smiled. "I'm Kaleigh." She was very pretty, with fair skin and light brown hair curling down just past her shoulders.

"Don't mention it. I'm Lee." He smiled back at her.

. . . .

"Oh god I am so tired of all this talk about the Yule Ball, it's giving me a headache." Angelina rubbed her temples. "I mean really, why did this have to come up right when the biggest crisis of my life is occurring? Couldn't this ball have been on Halloween while Fred and I were still on good terms? I hate my life…"

Alicia pushed the purple cabbage to the side of her plate. "Come on Angelina. You said you were going to give Fred his space and I think that's a really good idea. If you really like him then just let him be with Amaiko. They'll probably fall apart soon and then you can pick up the pieces."

"That's true, you don't have to give up on him, but just let it go. He's not going to be very happy with Amaiko anyways, she's not his type and I bet they have nothing in common." Katie said.

"I know that I need to move on." Angelina said miserably. "I just don't want to. I can't bring myself to forget about all those almost moments we had when I was almost positive he knew how I felt and shared the feeling. Every time I think about that I don't want to give up hope."

"Sometimes you have to." Katie said quietly.

"I know." Angelina's voice wavered. "Because if I don't then I'll lose him." She knew that while she still had lingering feelings for Fred he wouldn't be able to be her friend. The only way to give herself another chance was to let everything go.

"It's going to be hard, but doing the right thing always is." Alicia said. "And I suggest that you put a smile on your face and stop excluding yourself from conversations otherwise you'll never get a date to the ball."

"But we'll stick with small steps." Katie said. "You've already done a lot. The news of the ball just came at a bad time, it's not for another month. Try and just take some time to figure out what you want and set yourself to it. The ball can wait, it's just a stupid dance."

. . . .

At the table closest to the doors of the Great Hall sat the Ravenclaws.

"Find your dates yet?" Wendy Rosen, one of the Chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team sat down next to her friends.

"Two, but I redirected Jack to Penny since she's been crushing on him forever and then suggested Aaron ask Lena." Sherry, her best friend, said. "What about you three? Asked anyone?"

Danny filled his plate. "Yeah I asked Alicia Spinnet."

"Alicia Spinnet?" Wendy repeated. "Alicia Spinnet. You mean the _Gryffindor _Chaser? Oh god no, Danny, you can't go with her. Absolutely not! No way! _Not _when they beat us to the Quidditch Cup last year. _No_."

"Aw, come on Wen." Danny said.

"No. No, no, no, a million times no."

"I think it's a good idea." Sherry said. "I mean really, this animosity between other teams' players is ridiculous. The Slytherins okay, but the Quidditch Cup isn't even being handed out this year anyways. It's really the only chance you'll get and why not take advantage of it?"

Wendy glared at her friend. "What about you Ben?"

"Nah, haven't asked anyone."

Sherry rolled her eyes. "You don't have to. I'm guessing at least six girls asked you."

"I'm not sure who I want to go with, besides, it's a whole month away." Ben shrugged. He was the third Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and best friends with Danny. The two of them had very similar personalities and were very good looking, but looked very different. Ben had bright blue eyes under a fringe of black hair and chiseled features. Danny was tan and had blond hair bleached from the sun and warm brown eyes. Both were very well built and athletic.

"Well there will still be girls who want to go with you even if you don't decide until Christmas Eve." Wendy said. "Nobody wants to admit that attractiveness is very important, but you'd be surprised."

"I'm thinking about asking Angelina Johnson." Ben said casually.

Wendy spit out a mouthful of pumpkin juice. "What? There must be some kind of bug going around, what is wrong with you two? You could have any girl you want, and you're going for the _Gryffindor _Chasers? I will kill you for this."

"Oh Wen give it up." Sherry said. "This is coming from the person who said that the Gryffindor team is the only one to have the guys all be good looking _and _play well."

Wendy flushed crimson. "You aren't really going to ask her are you?"

"I think you should." Sherry said. "I mean they're nice girls I sit next to them in Transfiguration and Wen where's your sportsmanship? Besides, Fred and George are single as of the moment, why don't you ask one of them? I'd go with Fred."

"You really think it's a good idea Sher?" Ben asked.

"Definitely." Sherry said.

"Go for it man." Danny said. "Hey Sher, you should Fred and Wendy go with George? Then we can really make a statement."

"I don't think I want to embarrass myself." Sherry said.

"If you say so." Ben said, getting up. "I'll come back with her answer.

Sherry smiled. "Good luck!" She and Danny said.

. . . .

"Okay, I think you're right. I need to move on. First off would be accepting that Fred is with Amaiko. Then I need to find a Yule Ball date." Angelina said.

"Hey, Angelina?"

Angelina looked up and Alicia turned around.

"Oh, hi Ben." Katie said. His sister, Evaline was her roommate and one of the nicer girls.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Yule Ball with me." He looked at ease, his black hair flopping in his eyes with a careless but deliberate way. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans. He smiled at them and Angelina saw that he had a cute dimple. "Don't worry, you can say no, I'll understand."

Katie gave Alicia an if-she-doesn't-go-with-him-I-will look and she nodded in agreement.

It took only three seconds for Angelina to think about what Alicia had said about giving him space and letting Fred be. If she never moved on then they would never get to be friends, and she had decided that she needed to get over her feelings if she was to ever come close to being what they used to be.

"Ben, I'd love to."

_**Remember what I said about happy endings for couples not coming until the end? Keep that in mind. I feel like I just wrote a season two for this story. Don't forget the names of the minor characters, you might not think they're important but they are... **_

_****INCENTIVE TO REVIEW** If you leave a good review then I'll give you a sneak peek of the next chapter. You can request something, like if you want to know more about Alicia and George then tell me and I'll give you about two hundred words of the next chapter :D I thought that since this is a bit of a turning point for the story you'd probably be interested. So review!!  
**_


	11. Love with the Pieces

The Truth About Love- Chapter 11

_**Thanks for everyone who reviewed!**_

_**Melora- I checked the site, it's cool!  
- I LIVE for the drama and suspense so I'm glad you like it too ^^  
TelLion- :D Thanks!! Your review was so flattering!  
Cam- Your regular reviews are so awesome :)  
Dana- Your rants are awesome and I love how you describe Ben as "cute and built" :D  
Kaleigh- I love your funny review :P**_

_**I can't say that too many problems get solved (since every problem solved results in two more major issues) since that's how the drama is, but I can definitely promise that the chapters won't be uneventful...  
**_

Katie was the first to leave the common room and crawl into bed that night.

It had been long day and as she changed into her pajamas she tried not to think about the bad things. She had made it through the day, and that was all that mattered. All her assignments had come back with top grades in the class and she had finished the new ones, confident that she would continue getting good results.

She and Leanne were becoming very close friends, almost as good as she was with Alicia and Angelina. It was a good thing since they were a whole year ahead of her, but she felt a little sad at the time that they were spending together without her. Then again, once they graduated there would be a whole year spent separated since she would still be at school, but no one wanted to think about that yet. For Alicia that meant stressing about N.E.W.T.'s and after the first time no one brought it up in her presence again.

Of course that wasn't _all _Katie had thought about that day, but the majority of her thoughts had been about him. Right now she didn't want to think about him anymore, because every time she wound up feeling broken and empty and she'd had enough of that for the day. But unfortunately that didn't change things. Her heart had been broken, but somehow she still loved him with the pieces.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. No, she wasn't going to think about it. She wouldn't think about them. It didn't matter, what she thought of her as long as he was happy. It didn't matter that he didn't love her. If being with her was what he wanted then she was happy for him. The Yule Ball was just a dance, going single would be more fun anyways.

She snuggled under the covers and hugged her penguin stuffed animal. Her eyes traveled to her dresser, where she had placed dozens of photos of her family and friends. Her hand shaking, she reached out and gently touched the picture of him. They were sitting next to each other and laughing. She smiled, as memories of times when just being around him made her heart soar. Now it made that same torn up heart battle with itself over her feelings.

Feeling sad all over again, she took the picture and put it face down on her dresser. Maybe now she could get some sleep tonight.

_Don't think about it._ _Don't think about him. And don't think about her._

. . . .

Alicia set her quill down and rolled up the essay. "I'll be right back, I have to give this back to Fred." She had finished correcting his Transfiguration essay. "Nice job." She said, handing the essay to Fred. "That should score at least an E, because you definitely exceeded expectations even if there are a few mistakes here and there."

"Thanks."

"'Night, I'm going to bed." Katie said as she passed, looking very stressed out and tired. She disappeared up the stairs with her stack of books and assignments.

"Do you think she's okay?" Fred asked. "I don't remember fifth year being that bad, and it's only November."

"_That _bad?" Alicia said. "It was horrible! It was worse than this year! I practically didn't sleep."

"True. She hasn't had a meltdown yet. You snapped about three weeks into the year." Lee said.

Alicia scowled. "I did not _snap_. I just got really frustrated and unfortunately that resulted in the fire exploding, but it wasn't my fault! It's one of those things that just _accidentally _happens."

"Okay, whatever." Lee put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey did you find a date to the dance?"

Alicia automatically thought of George, and noticed that he was missing. "Um not really, I got asked once but I'm not sure if I'll go with him. Why? Did you?"

"No, just curious. It's all people are talking about." Lee shrugged. "Who asked?"

Alicia shuffled her feet. "Uh… I'd rather not say." She didn't want Fred to tell George. They were likely to freak out and she didn't want that to happen especially since Danny was always a nice person and lost with grace. Part of her actually wanted to give him a chance.

"Why? It wasn't Cedric was it?" Lee guessed.

"Er, no." Alicia said. "It was Danny Malone."

"What?! You can't go with him. No." Fred declared.

"He's on the Ravenclaw team." Lee said.

"We won't let you." Fred added.

Alicia laughed. "You won't _let _me? Very funny. And just so you know I didn't accept, I told him I'd think about it. I don't think it's a bad idea because this might be the only chance we get to know them. And if the right person doesn't ask then I'll go with him. I wasn't asking for your permission."

"What was that?" Angelina asked when Alicia came back.

"They won't _let _me go with Danny Malone. Pfft, as if they could stop me. The only problem is that I'm not sure George will ask me and if I wait too long then Danny will probably have promised to go with someone else. Where is George anyways?"

Angelina shrugged. "He disappeared after dinner."

"Oh well." Alicia turned to Angelina. "So Ben Rivers. I think that you should try and forget about Fred and really give him a chance. He's really nice and funny and I think it's cute that he asked you, although it doesn't really matter who we go with. I mean Cho's going with Cedric and they were both on different teams."

"Yeah." Angelina said reluctantly. "But I'm not really sure I'm doing the right thing. I'm so confused that I don't even know why I said yes. I want to move on, I know I _have _to move on, but I don't _want _to. And then came along the perfect guy, but I'm afraid that a big part of me only said yes because I wanted Fred to _think _that I've let it all go."

"Just try to be open minded and give him a chance. I bet you're really going to like him and if it turns out you really can't be with him then tell him that you agreed because you wanted to get to know him and be friends because you've never had the chance." Alicia said. "Simple and it's the truth. I'm going to do the same if George doesn't ask me soon. I'm going to give him four days and if Danny asks me for my decision I just might have to tell him the truth."

. . . .

The next morning was Saturday, but Alicia woke up bright and early anyways. She wasn't the only one, as the Gryffindor tower was filled with noise. Many people were getting ready to venture into Hogsmeade. After getting dressed she grabbed a letter for her parents, which she needed to go to the Owlery to send.

"Hey, where were you last night?" Alicia asked George, who had just come out of his dorm.

"Last night? I just… wanted to be away from everything." He said vaguely. Clearly he didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh… of course." How could she have forgotten? The Yule Ball was certainly coming at a bad time. "I was just off to the Owlery to send this letter."

"Me too."

They descended the stairs down to the common room in silence. As they crossed the common room George finally broke the silence.

"Lee said Danny Malone asked you to the ball."

"Oh. Kind of, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go with him. I think it's a good chance to get to know him though, since he seems like a really great person, but he's not the right person." Alicia said.

"Are you going to give me a clue as to who is?" George asked.

"No… it's my turn to get an answer from _you._" Alicia countered. "So you tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Anything."

"Hmmmm. I'm not sure I have anything interesting to say at the moment. Why don't you save your question?"

Alicia smiled. "Okay. You ask then. I guess I owe you for the secret passage."

"You still haven't shown me yours."

"That's true. I'll show you my secret passage when you tell me something no one else knows about you. It's only fair since no one else knows about the secret passage and where it leads to." Alicia smirked. "And I know you're curious."

George grinned. "Alright, it's a deal."

. . . .

Kitoko ran into their secret room and threw herself into Chris' arms before wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. He backed against the wall and they engaged themselves for a full five minutes.

"Tell them." Kitoko said, after she pulled herself away. "Today."

Chris looked at her grimly. "Is this what you really want?"

"Yes." Kitoko said firmly. "It's what I want. And I want you to tell everyone."

"You're not afraid of what's coming? What's going to inevitably happen? What about your sister? You know Amaiko is over ambitious and—"

"No. I'm not afraid. But I see that you are. I can't believe how stupid I've been for the past two months. The only reason you don't want everyone to know is because you're hiding something. You told me that we had to be open to each other." Kitoko crossed her arms and stared him down.

Chris sighed and looked at her, disappointment in his eyes. "I thought that you'd understand. But I'm not hiding anything, and if you want proof I'll tell everyone. Today. Breakfast is in an hour, I'll announce it to the Great Hall if you want. Anything, for you."

Kitoko's expression softened and she looked at him with adoration. "Really? You'll tell everyone? And… and does that mean…"

"Yeah." Chris said softly, taking her face in his hands. "We won't have to hide. And we can go to the Yule Ball together if that's something you'd want."

Kitoko threw her arms around him. "I love you."

. . . .

For the first time since Amaiko had exposed Angelina she and Fred were sitting with the same group of people and avoiding each other's gaze as they were separated only by a large plate of ham and a pitcher of iced tea.

"Anyone planning to go to Hogsmeade?" Katie asked, holding up conversation.

Angelina was staring at her food and eating little. Amaiko had caught Fred's eye and he smiled at her, causing Alicia to roll her eyes in disgust and ignore him as she talked to George, who was looking innocently confused. Lee was at the other end of the table talking to four girls from Beuxbatons, all of whom were looking at him with awed fascination except Kaleigh, who didn't seem to be able to look him in the eye and was blushing.

"Yes, Marko's coming with me to shop dresses since I want his opinion." Leanne chirped.

"Fred and I are." George said. "We need to get some things at Zonko's. And I think Lee's going with that girl he met the other day… what's her name…?"

"Kaleigh." Alicia answered. "And I'm coming too, Tina and Jillian are dress shopping too and you know me, I have a weakness for spending money."

"I'm staying." Angelina said. "I don't think I really want to go."

Alicia picked up a strawberry. "I think you should come, it'll be fun. Besides, you'll be all alone in the castle, we never come back until the castle gates and doors are half closed. Do you really want no one for company but Peeves?"

"Eh, I just don't really feel up to it. And you know dresses aren't my thing." Angelina said, wrinkling her nose at the very idea of it.

Alicia shrugged. "Suit yourself, but we have to go get ready."

Most people were cluttered at the doors of the Great Hall to leave. A good amount of girls were whispering about Kitoko and Chris, and how they had always known he was an arrogant jerk, even though nearly all of them had confessed to have fantasized about him.

"Oh… I hope he doesn't notice me." Alicia had spotted Danny with his friends in the reflection of Katie's earrings (pieces of mirror in the shape of large hearts) and quickly darted out of the Great Hall.

"Hey Angelina." Ben smiled at her. Though his intense good looks made him look like a serious brooding person, his smile completely changed him into an easy-going person.

"Hi Ben." Angelina offered him a small smile. "Are you going to Hogsmeade too?"

"Yeah. Do you want to come? We're just going to hang out at Three Broomsticks and maybe get some sweets at Honeydukes. I just thought since we wouldn't normally get a chance to."

"Um…" Truthfully she was afraid of running into Fred at Hogsmeade. _But how will you ever move on? _"Sure, it sounds great."

There was something about Ben's smile that made her want to give him a chance, so half an hour later she met Ben and his friends Sherry, Wendy, and Danny by the front gate. Danny smiled and said hi while Wendy managed a stiff hello. Sherry, who was one of the nicest people Angelina knew gave her a hug and linked arms with her and Wendy as they walked into Hogsmeade.

"Hey Angelina can I ask you something?" Sherry asked five minutes later.

"Sure." Angelina had quickly warmed up to four of them. They were friendly and easy to talk to. Even Wendy's icy demeanor had thawed in a few minutes.

Sherry giggled. "You're friends with Fred Weasley right?"

"Yeah." Angelina decided not to tell them the full story.

"Um… has he asked anyone to the ball yet?"

_What?!_ Angelina couldn't believe that Sherry liked him too. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's going with Amaiko Fujimara." At least she didn't have to lie. She had no clue if Fred had asked, but after seeing them together she was almost positive they would be going to the ball together.

"Oh. Wendy and I just thought that since Danny and Ben asked Alicia and Angelina it would be cool if we went with Fred and George." Sherry explained. "Then it wouldn't make being in a group so boring."

"Ooooh." Angelina said, relieved that she didn't have to worry about it, not that she was supposed to. _Although,_ she thought as she sat next to Ben and Sherry, _I'd rather Fred go out with Sherry than Amaiko. _Sherry was such a sweet and nice girl it was impossible to hate her. "Has anyone asked you?"

"Well three, but not the right person." Sherry answered. "I'm pretty sure he won't ask me."

"Aw come on Sher." Danny squeezed her shoulder. "Any guy would be lucky to go with you."

Sherry blushed. "Uh, let's just stay away from talk about the ball, I'm kind of sick of it. Besides, it's not for another month and already everyone's acting like it's happening tomorrow."

"Thank you!" Wendy said. "I can't believe they canceled Quidditch for _this_. I mean everyone enjoys sports, but the tournament only benefits four people."

"I know, I miss flying." Angelina said longingly.

"We should all race sometime." Ben suggested. "Anyone up for it? Wendy's our best flyer."

"That sounds like fun!" Angelina said. She excelled at flying. "I bet I could lap you around the school." She challenged Ben.

"Oh really? You really think you can beat me?"

"I know I can." Angelina smirked.

"Let's have a race tomorrow then." Danny decided. "A _friendly_ competition." He stressed the word friendly. "But just for the record I'll beat you both."

"Possibly, but I'll be first place. I'm the best flyer on the team." Wendy said.

"But last race you and Danny tied second to Ben." Sherry piped up.

"That's right." Ben and Sherry high fived. "I'm going for a winning streak here."

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Winning twice is not a streak, but I won't give you any chance of that, someone's got to deflate that big head of yours."

"Oh! Burn…" Danny and Wendy said loudly at the same time. "Nice one."

Ben just shook his head. "We'll see who's laughing later, but we definitely don't play nice when it comes to Quidditch so I hope you're not expecting us to go easy on you." He said to Angelina. "You're in for a surprise."

"The only thing that's going to scream surprise is the look on your face when I win." She shot back.

"Oh, she's a keeper." Danny humored Ben. "She doesn't mince words."

"Very honest" Wendy joked.

All of them laughed and Angelina good-naturedly nudged him with her shoulder to let her know that she was kidding. _And just maybe I'll keep him too._

. . . .

Tina twirled around in an autumn orange-yellow dress. It brought out the amber flecks in her eyes and the lighter highlights in her wavy hair. "I really think this is the one." She said, stopping in front of the mirror. "What do you think?"

"It's absolutely beautiful!" Jillian said.

"Perfect!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Definitely the one." Kim said approvingly.

Alicia stared out the front of the store, a vacant but wistful expression on her face. Caroline peered out in the direction of her gaze. Kim waved a hand in front of her face. "Alicia… Earth to Alicia…"

"Huh? Oh!" Alicia turned to see Tina. "Oh that looks great! It really does! And I have a necklace that would look perfect with that, you can try it on when we get back."

"It's settled then." Tina said, disappearing behind the fitting room. "I've found my dress!"

"This is all so perfect!" Jillian said. "Well I still haven't found my dress, but I'm sure next weekend something will come up."

"Alicia are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"Oh… uh, fine." She said distractedly. "It's just—no never mind."

Kim and Jillian moved closer. "Tell us! It's okay." Jillian said.

"Nothing… it's, I just… no, it's nothing." Alicia shook her head.

Caroline fidgeted. "This wouldn't by any chance be about George and the ball… would it?" Something in her voice made her sound uncharacteristically nervous.

"Well… kind of." Alicia sighed. "Why? You heard something didn't you?"

"Most likely, she hears _everything_." Kim said.

Tina burst out the dressing room with her dress on her arm. "What's wrong?"

"It's… I didn't tell you because—Oh Alicia you're going to hate me!" Caroline said. "I really didn't want you to be upset, but…"

"What is it?" Jillian asked. "I'm sure she wants to know."

Caroline shifted in her seat and didn't look at Alicia. "The thing is… I don't really know how to say this."

"What is it?" Alicia's expression was of utmost puzzlement.

Caroline bit her lip and hesitated. "George… he asked me to the Yule Ball yesterday."

_**I believe that answers at least one of your questions Dana.**_

_**If you're curious as to what happens next REVIEW. I got six reviews this chapter and I think that's a reccord so I'm really happy :) And I like to make people who review a lot characters in my story, so if you want to be a character, leave good reviews. And thanks to my regular reviewers Cam, Kaleigh and Dana for leaving the most useful as of constructional criticism, spontaneity, and nice long rants :D  
**_


	12. Tired of Trying

The Truth About Love- Chapter 12

_**Thanks for my seven reviews (the new record for this story) from FreeWords, Vero, Dana (that's your new nickname), DawnoftheDhamphir, qaz22, Cam, and grace. Since this is the most I've gotten since updating the story I made this chapter longer.**_

He had disappeared again. Alicia had aimlessly spent the night searching the castle for him in vain. She wasn't even sure what she was doing. If he didn't like her then he didn't like her, there was no point in dwelling on that. After what he had told her there was no way she could have expected him to. She had set her hopes up too high and that was her own fault.

She wasn't mad at Caroline, who had actually told George no and to ask Alicia. She wasn't angry with George since she knew he couldn't have done this on purpose, and at any rate it wasn't his fault for making her fall in love with him. No, she was frustrated and upset with herself. She should have seen this coming and she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up for something that wasn't going to happen anyways.

Still, something stirred inside her and made her want to talk to him. She would probably never understand, her mind was screaming hundreds of different questions that needed answers, but she wanted to try. But try as she might, she had searched every inch of the castle she knew and finally concluded that he must have used a secret passage or found another secret room.

Alicia returned to the common room and sat down by the window, staring out at the gardens where just two nights ago she and George had strolled in the moonlight. Now ominous rain clouds had covered the waning moon and twinkling stars, covering the sky in a blanket of pitch black.

"Hey!" Angelina, looking happy and smiling, much unlike that morning, sat down next to her. "I changed my mind about Hogsmeade. Ben invited me to go with him and his friends. We had a lot of fun! I'm really glad I decided to give Ben a chance, he's a really fun person to be around and we've got a lot in common."

"That's great!" Alicia put on what she hoped was a convincing smile.

Her acting skills didn't matter, as Angelina was too happy to notice. "We're going to race tomorrow and Danny told me ask you if you wanted to join. You should come, Wendy seems a little unwilling at first but we got along perfectly well after an hour. And Sherry is so nice, she's the sweetest person ever. And you'd like Danny, I know you would. You can tell me what you think of Ben too."

"Oh, that sounds great!" Alicia put false enthusiasm into her voice.

She decided not to tell Angelina about George asking Caroline. Angelina hadn't been so happy in days and she didn't want to burst her bubble. While she happily reeled off events of the day and repeated conversations Alicia wondered where George was and what exactly she would say to him when she found him. After twenty minutes Katie crossed the common room without greeting them and hurried up the stairs followed by Tina and Kim.

Angelina started animatedly talking to Tina and Kim about dress colors and Alicia took the chance to slip up stairs. Instead of turning to her dorm she headed up the stairs for the boys' dorms. She passed Hermione who looked extremely angry so she kept to herself. Ignoring the closed door she let herself in their room. Lee and one of his roommates, Brandon were the only ones inside.

"Hey." She sat down on George's unmade bed and shoved the knot of blankets out of the way. "Have you seen George?"

"No idea." Lee said. "Why?"

Alicia shrugged and stared up at the ceiling. "He borrowed a book for that one Herbology assignment and it's due today." The second part wasn't true, but she was lucky for an excuse and in any case there was a waiting list for the book.

"Oh, is it this?" Lee lifted up a thick book. "It's definitely not something he would have checked out on his own."

Alicia laughed lightly, not really committing herself to it.

"He asked about you actually." Lee said.

Alicia absently opened the book. "Oh. What'd he say?" The book flipped open to a random page marked by a piece of paper.

"He wanted to know if you said yes to Danny." Lee answered.

"Why?" The piece of paper turned out to be a photo. Alicia flipped it over and stared at the picture. It was of a pretty girl with green eyes and blond hair. Not Caroline. Then why did he even ask her? The girl in the picture slightly resembled Alicia but it wasn't her. So why did he want to know if she said yes to Danny?

"I'm not sure, I've hardly seen him in the past two days, but then again I've been hanging out with Kaleigh. She's pretty amazing." Lee smiled to himself and then closed the window as it began to rain.

Alicia closed the book and held the picture, feeling a sudden urge to tear it to shreds. She turned it over. _Send me one of you, I haven't seen you since summer! XO_ "You really like her don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing."

Could that be…? No, it wasn't. Well, she couldn't be sure, seeing as she hadn't seen her in four years, but she couldn't believe it. If he had a picture of her, then why did he ask Caroline? _Ugh, this is all too confusing, I'm tired of trying to read him. _"I haven't answered him." She said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm tired." She hesitated, and then put the picture face down on George's dresser before leaving.

She heard the boys' voices when she left. "Who's that? She looks familiar"

"Oh, remember Harmony Lovering?"

Alicia started towards her dorm for some alone time before turning to find Katie. She opened the closed door and found Katie staring at the darkness outside her window.

A light breeze was blowing through, rippling the curtains and playing her hair chestnut brown hair. Her almond shaped blue eyes were looking intently out in the distance at nothing in particular. The usual spontaneity and glowing happiness was gone. Sadness reflected in her distant eyes and without her usual smile she looked empty. Alicia thought she looked like a trapped princess in muggle tales.

"Hey." She sat down on her bed. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh." Katie turned away from the window. "Nothing." She walked over to her bed and pulled the right side of the curtains shut with her trailing fingers. The absence of her spirited happiness made Alicia want to persist, but she was good at changing the subject. "What about you? I can tell you're thinking about something."

Alicia sighed and leaned her head against the wall. "Promise you won't tell Angelina, she's all happy and I don't want to spoil that."

"Okay." Katie said slowly.

"George asked Caroline to the Yule Ball." Alicia said. "I'm so stupid! Why did I get my hopes up? I should have known that he wouldn't ask me, I'm just a friend, and how could I expect him to after what he told me?"

"Welcome to the club." Katie muttered. Alicia frowned. She was usually positive and didn't say things like that.

"What do you mean? And why won't you tell us who this Mystery Guy you like is?"

Katie shrugged. "Because he's not important."

"But obviously he's important to you." Alicia countered.

"And what does that matter? There are too many things important at the moment, I can't waste my time thinking about him when someone else has already beat me to the punch." Katie said. "It's not important, and at any rate, I'm tired of trying."

"Oh." Alicia said. Maybe Katie was just going through stress of O.W.L.'s. "And guess what I found in the book I let him borrow?"

"What?"

"He used a picture of Harmony as a bookmark." Alicia's eyes darted to a picture put face down on the dresser and wondered if it had fallen over or if Katie had purposely put it there.

Katie gave a short laugh, to Alicia's surprise. "Love really makes you blind huh?" There was hardly any humor in her voice. She had the feeling Katie was saying those words as much for herself as for Alicia. "Isn't it obvious what he's doing? He only asked Caroline because she's a chatterbox and social butterfly so she'd probably be too busy talking to other people to really care to dance since he knows she likes Chris Liang. It wasn't a bad idea actually, but still, I would have thought you saw that."

"Wait. So most likely he _doesn't _like Caroline?"

"If you're sure that picture was of Harmony." Katie answered.

"I'm positive." Alicia said. "Now I just need to find George."

Katie flopped on the bed. "Good luck, he all the secret passages and the only thing you know better than him is probably the library."

Alicia rolled her eyes and got up to leave. She stopped at the doorway. "Katie? You're not… in love with Marko are you?"

It was Katie's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh please."

"Okay! It was just a guess…" Alicia closed the door behind her. It was only after she was back in the common room that she realized she didn't completely believe Katie.

. . . .

"Tell me…" Amaiko said, taking Fred's hand and swinging their arms back and forth. It was a beautiful day. The storm the night before had left the sky clear blue without a single cloud in the sky and there was a light breeze. The two of them were walking around the lake.

Fred was looking at the Quidditch field. "Tell you what?" He said distractedly.

Amaiko's eyes angrily flashed in the direction he was looking where a few people were playing Quidditch. "Are we going to the Yule Ball together or not? It's been three days you know."

"But it's not even for another month."

"You're not planning to go with someone else are you?" Amaiko's lips formed a pout. "I wanted to go together." She put on her best pity-me-I-need-you look.

"No of course not." Fred tore his gaze from the Quidditch field and looked at her. "I just don't think it's that important, it's just a dance."

Amaiko tried to keep her temper from flaring up. _ Why doesn't it work on him? _Her good looks had failed to grab his attention and even her flirtiest and most seductive techniques had failed. Her last try was ego petting, but that wasn't working either. "It's important to me." She stopped and crossed her arms.

"Okay then."

"So… does that mean we're going together?" Amaiko brightened, but it was all play acting. What kind of answer was that? And what was it going to take for him to go to the Yule Ball with her? _Something must be wrong with him… nothing works. _She glanced at the field again and suddenly it dawned on her why he was so distracted.

"If you really want to. I think it's a pointless waste of time, but—"

Amaiko interrupted him with an excited squeal. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. _How's that for a show?_

. . . .

"I think you should come." Angelina said, securing her hair into a ponytail with a clear elastic band. "It'll be fun! You'd really like them and Danny was looking forward to seeing you since I said you would come." She had been insisting Alicia come for the past fifteen minutes.

"Okay! I'll come!" Alicia said, throwing her hands up in defeat.

Ten minutes later they had made it to the field with their brooms in hand. Angelina greeted them all like best friends and hugged them.

"I'm so glad you came!" Sherry said to Alicia, hugging her.

"Me too." Alicia said, giving Danny a small smile, but while he kept his gaze on her in a mesmerizing way she looked away. Wendy and Angelina both smiled knowingly.

"I thought we were going to race." Angelina interrupted, much to Alicia's relief.

"We are, but I'm going to be the one winning." Wendy said, mounting her broom.

"Psht, I think we've all agreed you're losing your place as best flyer." Danny replied, soaring up in the air.

"Give it a rest." Sherry said warily as they ascended into the air. As soon as she joined the line the four others shot off. She hovered shakily. "Oh that's too bad, I guess I'll just have to stay on the ground." She said to herself sarcastically, descending.

"Catch me if you can!" Angelina said, ahead of everyone.

Ben soared over the Astronomy tower and caught up to her. "See ya!" He weaved in and out of a series of arches.

"Well it looks like it's just you and me." Danny said, making a sharp turn around a statue.

"Not anymore!" Alicia dived steeply towards the ground and shot off in the same direction as Angelina and Ben, passing Angelina.

Danny zigzagged through the air and pulled up first place as he completed the first lap around the school grounds. "Try to keep up." He yelled to Wendy and Alicia.

Wendy grit her teeth and accelerated. "I like a challenge."

"Not very challenging in my opinion." Alicia said, zooming over the lake and passing both of them.

"Oh no she didn't!" Wendy leaned forward and urged her broom to go faster.

"Hey, miss me?" Ben effortlessly glided over them.

"Nope, but you'll definitely miss me!" Angelina flew upwards and swooped over the greenhouses. She blew him a kiss, "Good luck trying to catch up!" The action took her by surprise, but the sky was her turf and she felt confident as she sailed past Alicia and Danny.

Ben grinned and whizzed by Danny and Wendy who picked up their speed as the Quidditch field came into view. Angelina accelerated, but Alicia darted in front of her and elapsed her at last second. They were followed closely by Danny and Ben, who spun out of control and crash landed onto the grass, tripping Alicia. Wendy was last and flew straight into Danny, knocking him over and causing Sherry and Angelina to dive out of the way.

"Really, I don't get why you have to kill each other over a silly race." Sherry said, brushing grass off of her. "It's no big deal."

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks for asking." Ben said sarcastically.

"Speak for yourself!" Alicia exclaimed.

"Hey, you won, no complaining." Danny said. "Nice job by the way."

"I think that was definitely the best race I've ever had." Angelina said.

Sherry laughed. "Same for us, considering no one broke their neck after all those out of control crashes." Miraculously everyone was alright.

"Where's the fun without the danger?" Danny retorted.

"Anywhere you're not." Sherry replied.

Everyone laughed. "Too true." Wendy agreed, holding out both hands to help Danny up.

Alicia nudged Angelina and tilted her head towards the lake. She stood up and looked. There, walking hand in hand and talking were Fred and Amaiko.

Seeing them gave her mixed feelings. A big part of her felt murderous, she would never forgive Amaiko for what she did. It wasn't so much stealing Fred (technically he crossed to the dark side of his own free will) as much as it was for damaging their relationship beyond repair. However, a small part of her felt that it didn't matter. She was in high spirits and after an exhilarating race she didn't care about them.

Angelina shrugged and smiled at Ben. "I told you I would beat you."

"No, you said you would lap me, but you only beat me by about half a second." Ben corrected, tousling his hair to get the grass out of it.

"He has a point." Alicia said.

Sherry rolled her eyes. "Oh what does it matter? Let's please just let this one go with no bloodshed."

"Aw Sher you take all the fun out of it." Ben said, flying up in the air. "So who's up for three on three? I call Wendy. I can totally beat her in a race, but she's better at scoring."

"_Excuse _me? You got lucky this time!"

Ben dismissed her comment. "Do you want to be on my team or not?"

"Yes." Wendy said grudgingly. "Come on Angelina."

"I always get picked last." Sherry sighed. "Oh well Danny's skill makes up for my dismal playing. He just needs someone to flatten his ego."

"You aren't _ever _picked last. It's always been Ben and Wendy against you and me, Sher." Danny said. "And since when do I have a big ego?"

"She's kidding, silly." Angelina chirped, doing three loops. She spiraled off towards the left side hoops, laughing.

Alicia sighed. _Maybe I should spend more time with them. They are a lot of fun, and I wish I were that happy for a change. _"Alicia, are you okay?" Danny asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to give him a genuine smile, but in her heart she was lying and she faltered. _Okay, relax. _She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Sherry turned to look at her. "You're coming right?"

"Absolutely." And this time her smile was real. Sherry smiled back and together they flew off to join Danny.

Playing with Sherry, Wendy, Ben and Danny was not unlike the games Alicia had played with Katie, Lee, Fred and George. They all had fun playing against each other and spent a lot of time teasing their teammates. Alicia found that she and Danny worked together well, scoring over and over again. After two hours well spent, they descended back to the ground.

"Nice job Alicia!" Danny high-fived her. "You were really good too Sher."

Sherry blushed. She was definitely not a Quidditch player, but Danny seemed to be in a really great mood. "Well Alicia you were way better, you two work well together."

"Yeah, I guess we do." Alicia said happily. "Can we do this again?"

Danny grinned. "Definitely, you, me, and Sher?" He put his arms around the two girls.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She said, giving him a beaming smile.

"So, when will you two be up for another game?" Wendy asked Alicia and Angelina.

Alicia and Angelina both smiled. "Anytime."

"And how about a rematch?" Ben asked. "Because you know I let you win." He said to Angelina.

"You _let _me win?" Angelina repeated. "I thought you said you don't play nice when it comes to Quidditch."

Ben shrugged. "Usually not."

Angelina arched her eyebrows. "I don't believe it. I want a rematch. Now."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. Just you and me. And I want you to give a hundred and ten percent effort so you won't have any excuse for losing." Angelina said. "Now."

Wendy rolled her eyes. Sherry and Alicia looked at each other and suppressed giggles. "Well okay then, we're not waiting around." Wendy said. "See you at dinner." Danny and the three girls made their way back into the castle.

Ben leaned against the metal post of the center hoop, his long and lean body posed perfectly but casually. He was one of those people who looked at ease doing anything. His black hair was blowing lightly in the wind and partially covered his electric blue eyes. With his chiseled features and well built body Angelina was sure he scored at least a 9.5 on Caroline's cuteness scale and definitely hit it at ten for Angelina.

The last thing Angelina wanted to do while alone with Ben was to think about Fred, but she couldn't help it. They had a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. She thought they could have been good friends.

"You did this on purpose didn't you?" She said.

"What do you mean?" He said, feigning innocence.

"Pretend you let me win." She answered with a wry smile.

"No… I really did let you win, but you're right, I did it on purpose." Ben said.

Angelina approached him slowly. "Was a rematch all you wanted?"

He smiled. "Maybe not. Was that all you came for?" He didn't move, leaving Angelina to step closer.

"Maybe not." Angelina answered. She wasn't sure where all this confidence was coming from, but she was okay with it. She really, truly, did like Ben. "But that might be all you'll get."

Ben grinned. "But I know that's not all you stayed for."

Angelina laughed. "Okay, you win. I like being with you. A lot. I just wish we spent more time just the two of us. We can definitely start with me proving that I _am _the better flier."

"You're on."

Angelina smirked and mounted her broom. She flew up into the air and that's when she saw it. Fred. And Amaiko. Kissing. Again. And suddenly she didn't feel very confident anymore. Unable to concentrate, she lost the race.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked when she didn't say anything. She was quiet as they flew their two laps around the school as well.

"I'm fine." Angelina said, wishing she hadn't seen anything at all.

. . . .

_Stupid Angelina. What does she have that I don't? _Amaiko and Fred parted once they entered the castle and Amaiko was glad. She was getting increasingly frustrated with herself. Why was it that she couldn't even hold his attention for a good five minutes? Every time she was with him it was as if his mind was somewhere else and _not _paying attention on her. For Amaiko this was unacceptable and a blow to her pride.

Amaiko entered the Ravenclaw common room and snarled at a group of first years who were laughing loudly to get out of her way.

"You're back early." Kitoko said, getting off the couch and following her sister up the stairs. They passed three fifth years whispering about her and Chris Liang. Kitoko beamed. "Everyone wishes they were me." She bragged. "I told Chris that it wouldn't matter if other people knew."

Amaiko scowled, annoyed with Kitoko. She was bound to be chastised for failing with Fred the way she told off her sister. And just the previous morning she had discovered that she and one of the hottest guys in the school had secretly been dating for two months.

"So how did it go with Fred?" Kitoko smirked, knowing the answer.

"It was alright." Amaiko said through grit teeth. If she didn't control herself Kitoko just might very well find herself outside the Ravenclaw tower with a broken neck. "We're going to the Yule Ball together."

"So are Chris and I." Kitoko answered in a tone that clearly said she far more approved of her date than Amaiko's.

"That's great!" Amaiko said with false enthusiasm, hating her sister more and more. She pretended to go through the things in her bag. "Oh I left my mirror in the library yesterday. And it was my favorite one!" A gift from her aunt, the tiny hand held mirror complimented her every time she opened it. "I better go get it."

"Yes, you should." Kitoko said sweetly, indicating she knew exactly what Amaiko was doing.

Making sure her stiletto heels clicked loudly on the stone floors and stairs, Amaiko stormed down the Ravenclaw tower, out the common room, and in no absolute direction. She was halfway down one of the stairways when she walked into the last person she wanted to see, Chris Liang.

"Oh what do you want?" She snapped, annoyed by his very presence. He was the reason Kitoko had been so unbearable for the past thirty hours.

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm looking for your sister."

"She's busy." Amaiko said sharply.

"Hey, relax." He said. "What's gotten into you?"

Amaiko scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never used to be to bitter and cynical." Chris said lightly. "I definitely prefer your sister."

"Oh." Amaiko said airily. "Mind you she's a bit of a airhead, but I think that fits." She smiled coldly.

"You're right, I definitely like the more quick-witted and clever girls, but she's hot." Chris shrugged.

"My, you've certainly got low standards. What do you do, just go and find some dumbbell with a large chest?"

"That's not how I'd describe you, but sure." Chris said.

Amaiko rolled her eyes. "Hey, wait a second."

"Hm, I see I could have been right." Chris looked at her with waning interest and stepped to the side to go past her.

Amaiko stepped aside to block him. "Tell me." She said, stepping down and forcing him back. "Exactly why am I supposed to care what _you _think?" She said in a challenging voice, forcing him back the last three steps.

"Let's not pretend you don't." Chris said, leaning forward to look her in the eye.

Instead of backing up she smiled seductively. "You're right. No more games." Without considering anything, she snaked her arms around his neck, pressed her body against his, and kissed him full out. Chris backed up in surprise, but didn't push her away. Instead, he responded by kissing her back.

_**Hm, isn't that unfortunate? *Sarcastically and unconcerned* But this does add onto the drama and it's not fun without lots of it. **_

_**Please, please, REVIEW. I hope to get 60 by the time I update the next chapter :)  
**_


	13. It Is What It Is

The Truth About Love- Chapter 13

_**Sorry this chapter is a little late, but school started and I was busy with homework and all that fun stuff. But anyways, here's some fun stuff for you guys... I've added two new characters, Taryn and Cam, based on my two wonderful reviewers. Thanks to x-x-emo-tinkerbell-x-x, Vero, weasley's second daughter, Cam, and for awesome reviews :) And Dana where are you??**_

"Ben you know you don't have to walk me back to the common room. It's sweet, but the Ravenclaw common room is so far away." Angelina said as the last staircase changed direction.

"I know. But I want to."

Angelina blushed. It was so unlike her, but she wouldn't have taken it back. "You're the best." She squeezed his hand and then let go. "So tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night. I can't wait." Ben's honesty was one of the things Angelina liked so much about him. With Fred it was hard to tell exactly what he was feeling or what was going on or what he meant by things he said. There were some things that she liked to be in the open and this was one of them.

"'Night." Angelina hugged him and after a minute or so she released him.

She smiled, but didn't turn around, almost reluctant to leave. Ben returned the smile and Angelina could feel electricity pulsing between them as her heart began racing. She wasn't quite sure what to do, this wasn't some everyday situation she found herself in so she leaned forward a little bit and Ben came closer. Breathless, she closed her eyes and felt him leaning forward and…

There was a loud crashing noise and the two of them sprang apart, eyes wide with surprise.

"What was that?" Angelina asked, looking around.

"I don't know." A group of seventh years were crowding the staircase and yelling at the people blocking it. Angelina turned to face him again. "Well I'll see you tomorrow." Ben said.

"Oh." Angelina said, slightly crestfallen. "Alright, we have Charms first thing in the morning, see you." She watched him walk away with a bit of a hopeless feeling.

Just moments later up in the Hufflepuff tower sixth year dorm Taryn Carlinger paced the length of the room. Every ten seconds or so she would push a tightly coiled ringlet of brown hair out of her eyes as she continued walking off her frustration and anger.

"Okay stop." Her best friend Cam said. "Really, all that pacing is making me dizzy and it's just not necessary."

"Cam this is serious! What am I going to do?" Taryn collapsed on her bed and screamed into her pillow to try and get rid of the stress. It didn't help.

"First you try and relax. _Breathe_. And don't give me that look, you have to be able to think straight if you're ever going to get this right." Cam gave her friend a stern look.

Taryn closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths, but calming down was not one of the things she was good at. Quite the opposite of her calm and collected best friend she tended to over stress, over think, and over worry. So naturally witnessing the worst possible thing that could happen to her was a shock. Not ending up in the hospital with a Calming Draught crammed down her throat was already significant improvement on her part.

She breathed in and out very quickly, gulping big breaths of air. "Calming down… okay I'm calm!" She said, although everything suggested she didn't. Her pale complexion was flushed red, her uncontrollable curly brown hair was frizzing up into a mushroom cloud, and her eyes were wide.

Cam shook her head. "I guess that'll have to do. So can you _now _tell me what's going on? And using understandable, coherent language?"

"I think so." Taryn squeaked. "Okay so you know how Ben asked Angelina Johnson, that pretty Gryffindor Chaser out to the Yule Ball?"

"Yeah, it was in the school gossip along with Danny Malone, gosh he's a hottie, asking Alicia Spinnet." Cam said. "I'm starting to think maybe I should take up Quidditch, I mean they're on rival teams and yet all the team players are dating people on the other teams. Anyways, go on."

"Well I wasn't spying or anything, but you know how we have to pass that area right next to the Gryffindor common room to get to the right staircase? I saw them and…" Taryn swallowed, apparently having difficulty saying this. "and I think they might have almost possibly kissed."

Cam raised her eyebrows. "Might have almost possibly?"

Taryn looked around guiltily. "I was so surprised I dropped my books and knocked over a potted plant."

"You what?! He didn't see you did he?"

"No, a group of seventh years walked by just as they turned around." Taryn said, not looking any less nervous.

"Taryn, I really don't know how to say this." Cam said. She was not one for sugar coating or making things sound any different than they were. That was how everything worked for her. What you see is what it is. "But you have to get over it. And yes, I know it's hard, but there's a first time for everything and the first time is always the hardest."

Taryn crossed her arms. "But he was _my _first love. I've been dating him for two years. My feelings aren't something I can turn off like a light. If there was a switch I'd at least try, but I can't seem to find it."

"Okay, so maybe I can't expect you to be over this when you broke up two weeks before term and that was less than a month and a half ago, but at some point you're going to have to get around to it. Sooner or later this was going to happen and all that's left to do now is to accept things." Cam said. "It is what it is."

Taryn stared at her defiantly. "I have already accepted that we split. I didn't like it, and if I could go back and fix the mistakes I made then I would do it in a heartbeat. But I don't want to move on and I know it's selfish, but I hoped he never would. I have nothing against Angelina, I just wish that this didn't have to happen."

"You're almost there." Cam said. "The next thing to do is just know that it is what it is."

"I hate it when you say that." Taryn said.

Cam sighed. Clearly she was taking the wrong approach with all this. "Okay, I think we should try and break this down. You've already done the hardest part, and that's accepting that you're separated. The next part is to understand that even if you don't move on, he can and inevitably will. Last is moving on yourself, but by then once you've accepted the other two parts it'll be easier to let go. With me here?"

Taryn nodded.

"So I suggest that you start by making amends to be friends with Ben again. Start little by little, if you start off too strong then he'll suspect something. And then you get to know Angelina. Maybe that's all that needs to happen. That's all we'll go into for now." Cam said carefully.

"Well… I guess I have to start at something." Taryn said reluctantly. Somehow this felt like giving up everything and she didn't want to do that.

"Okay, we'll start tomorrow. Tonight… just try not to think about him." Cam suggested.

Taryn didn't answer at first. Part of her wanted to agree to it because she knew she couldn't spend her whole life loving someone who had already moved on. Still, a bigger part of her wanted to flat out defy Cam and Ben and everyone else. Why was he moving on? Why did this mean _she _had to let it all go? What exactly went wrong? But she didn't ask either of these questions or voice her true thoughts.

"Sounds good."

"Do you think you can do it?"

"Yes." She lied on impulse, but she could feel her face burning and her heart speeding up the way she did every time she was dishonest. Because the truth?

_Can I really do this?_

_Of course not._

_I can't_

. . . .

"What are you thinking about?" Fred asked Katie.

She looked away from the window, where she was staring out at the black sky. "Nothing."

"You're thinking about something. I can tell." Having spent too much of her time with him it was only natural for him to be able to read her expressions.

"I meant it's not important." She said, taking her quill and bending over the parchment.

"If it's important to you then it's definitely important. Why do you always put yourself down?"

Katie crossed her arms and deliberately looked away. "I don't. You wouldn't understand."

"Why? Katie what's gotten into you?"

The words on her essay blurred, but she refused to cry. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're not. Tell me what's going on."

She felt her eyes burn with tears and she almost told him. Almost. She didn't want anyone to know. It was too complicated and too hard to understand. Besides, the more she thought about them the more she realized just how much she needed to let go. And telling someone felt like holding on. She didn't look up when he said her name.

"Katie?" His voice was almost pleading.

"Fred… I can't."

. . . .

Doing homework was the last thing Angelina wanted to do, but seeing as the essay was due tomorrow she reluctantly set out for the common room with the materials to finish an essay for Potions. When she got down to the common room every seat was taken except the one across from Fred, which Katie had just vacated.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you." Katie was saying. She grabbed her papers.

"Okay, but I still think that—"

"Angelina!" Katie cut across Fred. "You can sit here, I'm going to bed."

"At eight thirty?"

"How much time for sleep did _you _get during O.W.L. year? I'm taking advantage of it." Katie said, walking past her and disappearing up the stairs.

Angelina smiled timidly at Fred, who returned it before going back to his Transfiguration book and essay. "So… um how are you and Amaiko?" She said awkwardly, unrolling her half-finished essay.

Fred shrugged. "Okay I guess."

"Just 'okay?'"

"Well she's not— I mean she's kind of clingy and there's not much depth to her."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that." Angelina said, not very sorry at all. But it seemed like the right thing to say so she said it. At the moment they were on polite barely-know-you terms, pretending that they didn't remember all that had happened in such a short amount of time.

"It's alright." Angelina wasn't sure if he was referring to his relationship with Amaiko or responding to her. "How about you and Ben?"

"It's been…" She wanted to say great, wonderful, amazing, but she didn't. It seemed unfair to say that when he answered to his relationship as just okay. "…nice." She finished. "He's been a really great friend to me." She opted to say this instead and wondered if she could impose any guilt on him.

"Oh, well that's good." He said lightly, his expression hard to read. "Glad to hear that."

Angelina slammed the book shut. "What are we doing?"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked without looking up from his book.

"Why do you have to act like this?"

"What are you talking about?" He scribbled down two sentences.

She couldn't believe it. "Why are we pretending everything's okay when it's not? Why do you have to act like we don't even know each other? What do you really want from me?" She shut his book. "You're not even looking at me!"

"We've been through this haven't we?" Fred sounded wary. He finished his paragraph and then opened the book again. Either he was purposely ignoring her or he really didn't care about what was going on. Angelina was getting increasingly frustrated and upset with both of them.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So is this it? Is this all we're ever going to be? Don't you miss being friends? I know we could never be anything more, but I miss you. I miss us. Do you really want to throw that all away?"

Fred continued writing and didn't look up from his paper. "I didn't throw away six years of friendship, you did."

"Well right now I'm asking you to help me get it back. I'm not saying I didn't do anything wrong. But life isn't always about whose fault it is."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Angelina thought her anger was reaching hysteria at this point. Everyone else was now pretending to go back to what they were doing while really watching this.

"I get it. But do you really think everything's going to change in two seconds when you did damage to a relationship that took years to build?"

Angelina hadn't seen that coming. Honestly, _yes _she had almost expected him to forgive her the way Lee had. But she understood where he was coming from. If things were turned the other way around she would be cautious to forgive. So if they were to put this behind them she would have to give in before that could be done.

"No. I didn't. But I need to start before it's too late."

As always, it was a confession of being at fault that put things back together. Angelina sat down again, having done all she could. It was sign of backing down and possibly giving in, but without giving up. Both of them took a deep breath and then Fred sat down too.

"In that case, I'm sorry too. Maybe I should have been the one to apologize. It's never one person's fault."

Angelina smiled weakly. "It takes two to tango."

"Oh, please don't mention dancing, I'm sick of the subject." Fred pulled his book towards him and flipped a page. "One more thing… I know you don't like Amaiko, but please don't try and get involved."

"I thought you didn't like her that much." Angelina said, hoping to let it go as casual.

_That's simple… I can do it right?_

"That has nothing to do with what I just said."

"I know. And if you want me to stay out of the way then no problem."

"You sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course." She faked a smile so he wouldn't see the truth. What she really wanted to say was along the lines of _what you're asking from me is impossible. _But she didn't. _I can't._

. . . .

From her position on the rooftop of the tallest tower of Hogwarts Alicia could see the entire school grounds and had the best view of the setting sun. She stared at the sky, stained pink, peach, orange, and gold lost in thought. Footsteps startled her and she saw a faint shadow. She pushed herself off the roof top and slid onto a small overhang where she jumped off and onto the top of the Astronomy tower.

"There you are." George stood next to her as they faced the illuminated horizon.

"Hey." Alicia said softly, unsure of how she felt. She hadn't really seen or talked to him in three days. This was partly due to his frequent disappearances, but partly because her uncertainty made her scared.

She wouldn't have admitted this to anyone but herself, but she was afraid. Never had she been willing to open her heart this far. Usually she waited for the other person to meet her half way but this was different. If she didn't do anything then she might miss this chance. And who was to say when she would have a second try, if ever? So what exactly did this mean?

Alicia dared not venture further to find a meaning to all this. She was not a risk taker when it came to things like this. Quidditch was different, she was trained, she was skilled, she was prepared. And when it came to classes she had books to learn from. Solid evidence and fact to back her up. So what was this? Exactly what was she supposed to do?

There was a saying, 'All's fair in love and war' that she had never quite understood. What exactly made love different than everyday life? Wasn't it supposed to _be _a part of life? And in life nothing was fair. But she had also discovered that being in love brings you to a different world. A place where there really is no right or wrong, truth or lie.

"I've been looking for you." George said, breaking several minutes of uncomfortable silence in which they had tried to convey silent thoughts into words to say to each other.

"I've been trying to find you too. Where have you been for the past… week? I've hardly seen you at all." Alicia chose not to reply to his actual statement but ask her own questions.

George stared at the sinking sun, which had turned from orange to a flaming red, almost the same color as his hair. Alicia watched his expressions and tried to read him the way she used to be able to. The sunset reflected in his eyes and for a few stretched out and elongated moments neither of them moved or so much as breathed as they tried to write their heart's feelings into words the other would understand.

"Have you ever felt like somehow the world was against you?"

"What person hasn't?"

"Sometimes…" He paused, at a loss for words, but thoughts whirring in his head. "Right now it just feels like hiding from my problems is a better solution than facing them."

Alicia ran her hand along the stone ledge, stopping just millimeters from his. She hesitated, and then left it there and tried to find an answer for him. "Sometimes I feel like that too. But the problem doesn't follow you, its part of you. And when you try to hide, it gets worse because you've isolated yourself from people who care about you and try to help." She squeezed his hand. "I missed you."

George smiled. "Of course you did." He laughed. But he still looked slightly uneasy.

Alicia could tell there was still something else on his mind that he hadn't said, but she didn't push him because if he had asked she wouldn't have been able to tell him the whole truth either. "Fred's not as funny as you." She said, playing along.

"Or as good looking." George added jokingly. They both laughed, but something was still missing. They had still barely skimmed the surface. "So… what about you?" After the moment of forced humor the atmosphere had suddenly become brittle.

"What about me?" Alicia wished to avoid the question. She was a terrible liar and pitiful actress.

"There's something off about you. What are you thinking?"

Alicia looked away, and tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. "There's a lot that I don't get right now. Some of it is simple, but a lot of it's too complicated for even me to understand exactly what it is I'm feeling."

"So tell me. Like you said, you can't run away from your problems, they're a part of you."

She bit her lip and stared at the mountains in the distance, ringlets of hair flying in the wind. "For the most part I'm just confused about how I feel. This is a pivotal point in life. There's a lot I don't know and too much that I need to figure out. Of course there are easy things, like what am I going to do when I graduate? What subjects should I take next year? What am I going to wear to the ball? And then…" Her voice trailed off and she stared at her hands.

"Then what?" He said softly.

She looked at him, blue eyes meeting hazel. "Then there are the personal things. Questions that no one can answer for me, answers that I can't find through research. Where do I belong in this world? Is there someone out there for me? When do I have to decide between what I want and what I need? These are the kind of thing that you have to look inside yourself to find, and I don't understand that."

Feeling that she had said too much Alicia looked away again, feeling flushed. Then she felt him gently touch her cheek and turn her to face him again. His eyes searched hers and for a moment she was too transfixed to look away. "There's something else isn't there?" He spoke faintly, almost afraid to say it.

Still held by his intense gaze she looked up at his gorgeous eyes, a delicate combination of light brown, green, amber, and gold. A million thoughts were running through her head and her speech was failing her. For a moment she almost blurted it out but a tiny voice spoke in her head despite the fireworks going off in her head that prevented her from thinking.

"George…" She liked the way his name sounded and felt so familiar. Closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his expression she turned away and took a step back. "I can't."

_**You'll notice each of the four sections in this chapter ended with 'I can't' and I realized that and thought it was pretty cool :D Some chapters will kind of all be mirroring each other, like I think I have one with three kisses and one with all the girls crying, but I'll need more reviews if I'm going to get to that ^^**_

_**Reviews please! They're very much appreciated :) And and weasley's second daughter if you want to be characters (when I add new ones) let me know since you've both reviewed multiple times.  
**_


	14. That was Then

The Truth About Love- Chapter 14

_**This is where Katie starts to be more of a main character too.  
**_

_**Thanks to GinnyWhetherby, Rapid Squirrel, Vero, Cam, and Dana (as usual) for reviews ^^  
**_

"I can't do this." Alicia flopped down on her bed. "I just can't. I mean he's definitely my friend before anything else, but as of last night I can't do it anymore. There are some things we used to do before I knew all of this, but somehow I feel like it's different and I can't be like that anymore."

"That makes two of us." Angelina said. "He asked me to do something that's impossible."

Katie was sprawled across Jillian's bed but not saying anything. She had been doing that a lot. Sometimes it was just easier not to say anything for fear of saying too much. Most of the time she found herself in deep reflective thinking. Why was she putting herself through this? What exactly did she expect? If he was never going to love her then why did she still wish it was her he was with every time she was them?

"But I'm not going to let it get to me." Angelina said. "If this is the only way I can be friends with him then I have to do it no matter how much I hate Amaiko and seeing her with him. I don't even get why they're still together when he admitted that their relationship isn't really going anywhere."

"Oh that part's obvious." Alicia said, rolling her eyes.

She was slightly annoyed that Angelina was making a big deal when her issues were much easier to understand and solve than hers. Of course it was also bugging her that Katie's mood was always unpredictable. Some days she was quiet and contemplative and other days it seemed like she was back to normal. She suspected this was her trying to pretend things were okay, but clearly they weren't.

"Yeah, it sort of is." Katie said, sifting through the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She held up a pink one. "This is definitely strawberry right?"

"I suppose." Alicia said. "Or maybe cotton candy, watermelon, marshmallow, it should be good."

Katie shrugged, popped it in her mouth, and then spit it out. "Ugh! Soap."

Alicia and Angelina laughed. "Anyways, so are either of you going to explain the great mystery of Fred and Amaiko's relationship?"

"Oh. Not really." Katie said, setting down the flavored beans and looking at them reproachfully. "It's all part of the experience, for you to figure this out by yourself."

Angelina frowned. "Haven't I experienced enough of this confusion and disappointment already?"

Katie and Alicia both shrugged, thinking that their issues were perhaps slightly (or largely) more problematic than hers and neither of them had help. "Well it's sort of obvious isn't it?" Katie said.

"No." Angelina said bluntly. "Otherwise I wouldn't be asking you would I?"

Alicia sighed impatiently. "Clearly Amaiko isn't doing a good job charming Fred right? And you know how she's the kind of girl who prizes herself in being able to mesmerize guys just by walking past them."

"Yes, I know that. But what does that have to do with their relationship?"

"Obviously it's a blow to her pride if she can't get Fred to even ask her to the Yule Ball." Katie said, looking at a bright blue flavored bean with curiosity. "And she's too proud to give it up and make it a new record that she hasn't seduced him yet or something. She doesn't really want him anymore, but she doesn't want to give up because then it's bad for her reputation."

"And because she and Kitoko are always competing with each other over who's prettier, smarter, and better in general. They like to judge each other by how easily and quickly they can get guys to ask them out and things like that." Alicia said. "It's stupid, but since beauty is the only thing they have they like to flaunt it and if it fails then they get upset."

Angelina crossed her arms. "That doesn't explain Fred."

"Fred is not the kind of person to put these kinds of relationships real high on his list of important things. His way of dealing with it is to ignore it and he's good at that. That's why sometimes it gets hard to tell what he's thinking or what he means when he says things. That's what he wants." Katie said.

"Wait." Angelina said. "So because relationships aren't important to him—"

"Not all relationships." Alicia corrected. "Just romantic ones. He'll flirt back to the pretty girls but I don't think he's really ever asked them out or cared. He's kind of the opposite of Amaiko. She thinks that things like family and friendship aren't important."

"So because he doesn't think his relationship with Amaiko is very important he'll stay with her even though he doesn't like her?" Angelina was confused.

Alicia and Katie both groaned at her inability to understand. "Yes…" Alicia started.

"… and no." Katie finished.

"He doesn't really like her, but I'm guessing that when he's around her it's a lot easier to stop thinking about you." Alicia said.

"Me?!" Angelina said incredulously. "But he told me—"

"Remember when you asked him about their relationship?" Alicia cut in.

"What did he say back, in exact wording?" Katie asked.

"He said, in exact wording, 'She's not—I mean she's kind of clingy and there's not much depth to her.'" Angelina repeated his words.

Katie and Alicia looked at each other as if to say 'I knew it!' "You still don't see it?" Katie asked.

Angelina huffed. "For the last time, NO!"

"I'm pretty sure he almost said 'She's not you.'" Alicia said.

. . . .

"Are you sure about this?" Taryn said nervously.

"Positive." Cam said.

"I don't think we're allowed to sit at other house tables." Taryn said, fidgeting.

Cam rolled her eyes. "Do you see anyone else following that rule?"

"Um… no."

"So isn't that a really stupid question?"

"I suppose. Well… okay then." Taryn took a deep breath and then sat down next to Sherry, who was easily the most approachable person in the group.

"Hi Taryn!" Sherry smiled and gave her a hug. Cam and Taryn already knew Wendy, Ben, and Danny from their Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes together so she didn't bother with introductions.

"Hi Taryn, Cam." Ben said politely.

"Hey." Danny smiled and then returned to cutting his ham.

"Nice of you to drop by." Wendy was pretty good friends with Cam and Taryn, as she sat next to them in Transfiguration. "What brings you here to our remote corner?"

"Just wanted to say hi and stuff." Cam said, pouring herself iced tea. Taryn nodded in agreement. "Taryn has a question about the Transfiguration assignment she wanted to ask you guys." Sherry and Ben were easily the best in their class and Taryn was wishing that she had come up with that earlier.

"Oh, shoot." Ben said.

Taryn had truthfully not even looked at the paper since Cam had come up with the impossible plan but she remembered vaguely that their class had something to do with changing their hair color. "Yeah, um, we were supposed to, um write about Pictrangelli's Five Principles right?"

"Yeah." Ben nodded.

"So… I uh, didn't really, you know, understand the… third one." Taryn had no idea what the five principles actually were, having not opened up her book yet. Transfiguration was tomorrow and she hadn't been planning on doing it until tonight.

"Oh we didn't get that one either, but Alicia let me borrow a book she checked out a book from the library that's supposed to help, you can study with us this afternoon if you want." Sherry chimed in.

"Thanks!" Taryn said, not sure if this was supposed to help at all, but a look from Cam told her that this was good but she looked away quickly.

Curious at who she saw, Taryn looked up but saw nothing of interest. Bryce Tanner, who could only be described as 'the rebel bad boy' and one of the meanest people in Hogwarts glared at her before going back to making out with his girlfriend Madeline Withers, who for some reason hated Cam on a personal level. Assuming that the person walked away she made a mental note to ask Cam later. Taryn turned to the conversation to see that Cam was talking to Wendy and had apparently dismissed the thought too.

"So this afternoon?" Ben confirmed.

"Yeah, this afternoon." Taryn smiled back.

. . . .

Around four in the afternoon Angelina found herself sitting in the shade by the lake with Fred, Amaiko, and Katie, who she had all but forced to come along for company. She had been talking to Fred and George when Amaiko intervened. Under the false pretense of being nice, Amaiko had asked Angelina in a sugary sweet fake voice to join them. Keeping her promise to herself, Angelina boldly agreed and it was exactly why she was now trying to concentrate on her Potions essay while Amaiko and Fred were talking. Amaiko kept entwining their fingers together or running her hand down his arm and giggling at things he said.

"Oh Fred you're so funny." Amaiko leaned her head on his shoulder and looked up at him with what was supposed to be a mesmerizing look, but Fred didn't seem to be paying much attention to her. "So Angie,"

"If you call me that I will drown you in the lake." Angelina smiled to show that it was a joke but her eyes were ice cold.

"How are you and Ben?" She asked, snaking her arms around his neck.

"Ben is amazing and I totally love him." Angelina said nonchalantly. She knew she shouldn't be trying to play the jealousy card, but she was already doing a lot. "We've been inseparable and I really love spending time with him. He really listens to me and understands me." She added this last sentence for Amaiko, since she knew the cooling relationship with her and Fred was a sore spot for her.

Amaiko smiled back, but only with her mouth, as the rest of her expression was hard and emitted furious anger. "That's so good to know. Glad to know you've found someone _else _too." She stressed the fact that Fred was undeniably _not _Angelina's and smirked.

Fred, who was reading the instructed homework passage for Charms didn't notice and subtly shrugged Amaiko off when turning the page. Katie nudged Angelina with her shoulder and gave her a look as if to say _did you see that? _Of course she did. Angelina grabbed Katie's Transfiguration assignment and book. Since she had nothing to do she might as well help Katie finish her work.

"Oh there's Ben." Amaiko said brightly, ungluing herself from Fred. "Hi Ben!" She said loudly and waved enthusiastically.

_Oh perfect timing! _Angelina looked up from Katie's review questions and suddenly frowned. Who was that with him?

Ben halfheartedly waved back and then shoved his hand in his pocket and turned back to the girl he was talking to. When he turned Angelina caught a glimpse of who he was with. She recognized the girl at Taryn Carlinger, who was in her Potions class. She was nice, but easily over excited and hard to calm down.

"Oh who's that with him?" Amaiko asked innocently. She tilted her head to see who it was, although Angelina was sure this was all an act, she definitely knew who it was. "Taryn Carlinger?" Amaiko's eyebrows shot up. Angelina thought this was laying it on a little too thickly. "Gee, I wonder why Ben would be walking around alone with his ex-girlfriend." Amaiko smirked and her expression said one thing, _this is too good._

"What?!" The book on Angelina's lap slid off. She didn't usually keep up with who was dating who, that was Caroline's thing.

Amaiko was now visibly trying to hide her ecstasy and stifling laughter, which only made Angelina feel even more stupid. "Didn't you know? They dated for three years and broke up this summer."

"Oh." There was no pretending she was okay with this, especially after her previous outburst, but she didn't say anything else and instead decided to go on pretending to be strong, something she didn't exactly feel at the moment. "I'm sure it's nothing." She said airily, picking up Katie's book.

Amaiko was not going to give up so easily. "Wow Angie." She said breathlessly. "I wish I could be like you. I mean I could never watch my boyfriend walk around with his ex and be okay with it."

Angelina grit her teeth, but smiled up at Amaiko. "Well love can't be forced to bloom." She said pointedly, looking at Amaiko and Fred. "And I trust Ben." She said with more confidence than she felt, but if she could fool everyone else then maybe she could trick herself into believing it too.

. . . .

"Hey, where's Sherry?" Taryn asked.

"Oh she finished early since Danny wanted to work on a song for Alicia. She left us the book and her answer though, we're just not allowed to copy it." Ben answered.

Taryn smiled and sat down next to him. She felt it would be less awkward to sit across from him, but since they needed to share the book that wasn't going to work. Luckily she had finished the assignment except for the few questions about Pictrangelli's third principle. Unfortunately, she was left handed, and that meant every time they tried to write their arms would bump against each other.

She still felt awkward even though Ben was completely at ease. That was the kind of person he was, nothing ever fazed him and even if it did he never let it show. Sometimes she liked it because she knew he was strong and would always be there. But other times she wished that he didn't hide everything and would let her know what he was thinking about. No one was completely invulnerable and in a way he distanced himself from her when he hid part of himself away from her.

_But that was then. _

Taryn forced herself to start her second paragraph and instead of thinking about it she asked Ben to explain a sentence Sherry had written. They worked for twenty minutes in mostly silence. Once every few minutes Taryn asked Ben to explain something or he would ask her what Sherry had written and together they would decipher her artistic loopy cursive writing.

"I'm done." Taryn set down her quill and screwed the lid on the bottle of ink.

"Great." Ben closed the book and put Sherry's essay behind the front cover. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's a beautiful day."

"Yeah, it is a nice day."

The two of them walked out of the castle to the school's courtyard. Taryn focused on the many exotic and strange plants, unsure of what to say. She didn't quite trust herself with words either, what if she accidentally let something slip? Every part of her was restless and she kept nervously brushing her hair out of her face, straightening her shirt, or, and she couldn't help it, looking at him.

She wasn't sure if he noticed her frequent but brief glances. He looked up a head at the Forbidden Forest, deep in thought. His bright blue eyes seemed slightly vacant, as if he wasn't thinking about now, his thoughts bringing him somewhere else. A light breeze blew his black hair around his eyes. His hands were in his pockets but his shoulders were relaxed. Taryn noted all of this with a rush of familiarity.

"You're quiet." Ben said as they walked past the green houses.

Taryn chose not to answer that question. "So are you. What are you thinking about?"

"I don't think I should answer that." Ben said elusively, but truthfully.

She felt an urge to ask why, but decided to respect the space that was now between them. Now was not the time to cross invisible borders or rewrite unseen boundaries. With difficulty she closed her eyes and mentally let go of the questions she meant to ask him. She closed her eyes and imagined the wind blowing away a sheet of paper with questions scribbled on it.

When she opened her eyes she saw a dandelion floating, suspended in midair by the playful breezes. She took it in her hands and turned it in her anxious fingers. What to wish for? An impulsive thought came to her mind, but she dismissed it. No, that would be selfish, and she cared about his happiness too. She closed her eyes again, it helped her to imagine things, and her imagination was her best friend.

She saw herself as a person with conflicting desires and wearing her heart on her sleeve. She pictured herself letting go of that part of her and watching her heart flutter away. _I want to let it go. _She softly blew the dandelion and watched the released parts spin and twirl in the wind before soaring out of sight. _Let it go. _

"What'd you wish for?" Ben asked.

"I can't tell you. Otherwise it won't come true." Taryn said. _And I need it to._

"Taryn." Ben stopped at the lake and turned to face her. She noted the change in his tone and tried to read his expression. It was one that she had never seen on him before and she couldn't explain it.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still think about it?"

Taryn swallowed the lump in her throat. "Think about what?" She whispered.

"Never mind." Ben shook his head and continued walking, with a quickened pace. After several moments of silence he spoke again. "I shouldn't be saying this, and like I said I shouldn't be thinking about it either, but you know I still think about you every day. And sometimes I don't understand what happened and why. But I know things happen for a reason. And I just hope that we can both move on from the past and still be friends."

She searched his expression for hints, but still couldn't quite understand what it was he was thinking about. But she knew one thing, he had moved on, and if she couldn't take steps farther than one day he would leave her behind. And if she let him go knowing she could at least have been a friend, some sort of connection to him, she would never forgive herself. Remembering the metaphorical releasing of her heart, she made a promise to herself that she would be friends with him no matter how much it hurt.

"I'm glad you think so because I didn't know how to say it any better." She said.

Ben nodded. Taryn watched his expression change and caught something, but was unsure what it meant. Was it relief? Disappointment? Understanding? Whatever it was, she let it go, just like everything else she had held dear to her.

. . . .

Katie closed her dresser drawer and sat down on her bed. She had just dug a photo out from underneath a mess of scarves. Originally the photo had been placed face down on her dresser, but after Alicia noticed it she was afraid someone else might find out and hid it. Now she sat with the picture in her hands.

"Hey." Leanne sat down on her bed next to her.

"Hey." Katie put the picture, face down, on her pillow.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Katie said. This was untrue, and she was sure Leanne knew it. She simply hoped Leanne would see she was having a bad day and would let her fly under the radar.

No such luck. "No, really, what's going on? You're quiet all the time and I can tell you're really upset about something." Leanne's eyes traveled to the picture on her bed.

"Leanne… I don't feel like talking about it."

"Of course you don't. But you know you should. It helps if you talk to someone. I don't care if it's not me, I know Alicia and Fred have already asked you about it too. You're my best friend, I don't like seeing you like this." Leanne said.

Katie bit her lip. She didn't want to talk about it, but on the other hand, every time someone asked she wanted to blurt it out. "Leanne I really want to tell you but I'm… I'm afraid." She sounded like she was going to cry.

"Why are you scared? You can tell me."

Katie shook her head, no.

"It's about your family isn't it?" Leanne said slowly. "And... and a guy?"

Katie burst into tears.

_**Any guesses? I'll give you a clue, it's been mentioned before. A lot of things in this story you can find if you look REALLY closely. **_

_**Review please :D It takes about ten seconds to press the button and write a few quick comments and I really appreciate it.  
**_


	15. More Than Me

The Truth About Love- Chapter 15

_**Record reviews! Thanks to DawnOfTheDamphir, Dana, Bellx, grace, weasley's second daughter, Vero, GinnyWhetherby, Cam, , and TealCrystalCAT. Since I got more reviews than usual I made this chapter a lot longer, and it's probably going to be the record length for chapters, but if I get more than that might change :) **_

"What are you looking at?" Taryn asked.

Cam let the curtain fall, cutting off the small stream of sunlight. "Nothing, how'd it go?"

"It was…" Taryn said, stopping at the foot of her bed. "Horrible!" She said. "I mean he was nice and stuff and I managed not to say anything stupid but he wants us just to be friends. And I know I can't expect anything more than that but it's still really disappointing! It's just… I haven't even talked to him since this summer and the first thing he wants to say is that he wants us to be _just _friends. I mean of course we can't be anything more, but did we have to write boundaries right this second?

"And I really hate that he never says what's on his mind. I could so see that he was thinking about something but he wouldn't tell me what it was and I felt like I shouldn't ask because that would be prying and that would be kind of the wrong thing to do right now. But I just wish he wasn't so elusive! It's so much easier when people are open about their feelings and don't hide everything. I mean that was one of the things that ended our relationship and I just wished that some things had changed for the better, but no, it seems like everything is SO much worse!"

Taryn collapsed on her bed and opened her mouth to say more but Cam cut her off.

"Taryn that's actually a good thing." Cam said.

"A _good _thing?!" She shrieked. "How is it good?! It's horrible! What in the world am I supposed to make out of that? I should have known that this was a bad idea. Ugh if only Sherry were there like she said she would be! Then we wouldn't even have had to talk about it and everything would be so much better."

"No, it wouldn't." Cam said. "And calm down. Deep breaths. Don't hyperventilate." Taryn looked as if she just might do so, but nodded for her to continue. "Now tell me everything that happened and if you can remember, his exact words."

So Taryn told her everything that happened at top speed and covered it in thirty seconds and started to say more but Cam interrupted.

"Okay I think I get it."

"You do?" Taryn asked, changing her sentence mid-word.

Cam nodded. "Yeah. I think, I _think _that he's still slightly affected by your relationship, but he's trying to move on. And that's where Miss Angelina comes in. She's kind of the opposite of you and you were kind of the opposite of him. So I think he likes her, but at the same time he thinks that she'll be a good distraction because you have no similarities."

"Yeah, except she clearly likes him too." Taryn interrupted.

Cam went on and ignored her interruption. "As for just being friends I think it's a good thing he said that. It means that he _wants _to be friends despite what happened. So even though he's trying to forget about what happened and move on, he still wants you by his side. And if he hadn't said that you might have gotten the wrong idea and that would have been disastrous."

Taryn let out a sigh of relief. "That's very true. Hm, I never thought you'd be one for looking on the bright side, but I like it!"

"I do _not _look on the bright side, I'm just telling you the facts." Cam said.

But Taryn was not listening. She looked like she was floating on cloud nine and chances were, probably wouldn't come back to Earth for another few hours. "This is great!" She said. "I don't have to let go of anything in that case." She hugged her pillow.

"Yeah… great." Cam said. "Hey, you know um Lee Jordan?"

"Uh huh…" Taryn said dreamily.

"Is he… um, you know, going out with anyone?"

"I don't know." She shrugged and closed her eyes, a goofy smile on her face. "Hey wait a second." She sat up and snapped out of her dream. "Was he who you were looking at this morning?"

"What?" Cam looked taken back. "Who? What are you talking about?"

"This morning, at breakfast. You were looking at someone. I knew it wasn't Bryce Tanner. I should have known, I saw him leave the Great Hall early. Silly me."

"Bryce Tanner?" Cam made a face. "You have got to be out of your mind."

"Well yeah, I didn't know you liked Lee."

"I don't." Cam said. "But did you see the way Wendy was looking at him?"

Taryn shrugged. "I don't know. But I think Lee's going out with a girl from Beuxbaton. I think her name's Karen? Or maybe Cali? I'm not sure but she's really pretty. I don't really think Wendy likes Lee though, she was talking to you wasn't she? I think she was probably looking at Noah Wellington."

"Possibly." Cam said. "He is pretty cute, but I don't ever remember her showing signs of liking him. Interesting…"

"Right. Anyways, who were_ you_ looking at?" Taryn asked.

Cam shrugged. "Oh. No one."

. . . .

"Do you really think she'll like it?" Danny asked.

"Absolutely." Sherry said. "She's going to love it."

"Sherry you're the best." Danny said. "I know you were going to study with Ben and Taryn."

"Don't tell Alicia that." Sherry said. "But yes, I'm pretty amazing." She added with a joking smile, though she looked as if her mind was preoccupied.

Danny smiled back. "What are you thinking about?"

Sherry looked out the window. "Nothing." She said distractedly. Danny raised his eyebrows and gave her a look of disbelief. "I was just thinking." She said vaguely.

"Yeah, about what?"

"This song." Sherry said. "When did you write it?"

"Oh." Danny didn't look very convinced. "Last night. I wanted to sing it for her today but you were busy and I needed your opinion."

"Did you ask Wendy?"

"Oh you know she thinks is mushy and unnecessary."

Sherry laughed. "Yeah. Hey, has Alicia said yes to the ball yet?"

Danny shrugged. "No, but it's four—"

Sherry interrupted. "Three and a half."

"—weeks away, I don't need the answer right now. Besides, I'd rather she really think about it than change her mind later."

Sherry turned away and put her guitar in its case. "Well for your sake I hope she says yes, but…"

"Yeah?"

"But don't get your hopes up too high." Sherry hesitated, wondering if she should tell him or not. "I know she wants to go with George Weasley. There was some complication about an ex-girlfriend, and she's trying to respect that, but I think the reason she hasn't answered yet is because she secretly wants him to ask her."

Danny thought about what she said for a moment. "Thanks for telling me Sher, but I'll be alright."

By the look on her face Sherry clearly didn't think so, but didn't say. "Okay. I could tell you really liked her so I thought I'd tell you just in case, but hopefully it wasn't necessary."

"If she says no it's not the end of the world." Danny said, "But it'd be nice if she did." He checked his watch. "I have to go, we're meeting in a few minutes."

Sherry smiled, but gave him the same cautious look. "Have fun." She opened her book to the bookmarked page. "And I hope she says yes." She added to the empty room.

. . . .

"Hey."

Katie looked up. "Hey Andrei." She gave him a small smile.

"Where have you been? Leanne's been looking for you." He sat down next to her.

"How did you find me?" Katie asked. She was sitting in the shade of a tree located just below the Gryffindor tower. The only way someone would see her is if they stuck their head out the window of the boys' dorm and managed to see her beneath the canopy of green leaves. Usually people didn't venture to this part of the school campus.

Andrei shrugged. "I guess it just seems like one of those out-of-the-way places that you'd like." He sat down next to her, leaning against the stone wall behind them.

"More like you luckily stumbled upon it." Katie said.

"Yeah, that too."

There were several moments of silence punctuated only by the sound of Katie's quill scratching against parchment. She tried to concentrate on the properties of moonstone but instead was listening to the rhythm of their breathing. The November air was cold and she could see her breath exhaling into clouds. Unable to focus, she set her paper aside and closed her book.

"You're upset about something." Andrei said. It wasn't a question, it was stating a fact Katie was trying to avoid.

"What makes you think so?"

Andrei fixed his eyes on hers. "Because you're always quiet and it's like you're not really there. And then when someone asks you what you're thinking about you change the subject. You're good at it, but after a while we start to see through the act."

Katie sighed with annoyance, how many times had people brought this up? "I'm fine. I've already talked to Leanne about it and I feel a lot better now. It's just… sometimes I don't want to face what's really happening."

"You don't have to go into specifics."

She shook her head. "You might get the wrong idea then."

"Katie, I promise I'm not going to judge you. But we're here for you, Marko, Leanne and me. I just want the Katie I know back."

Something about the way he said it triggered something inside her. "Okay." She said. "It's kind of complicated, but I've got family issues. My mom wants to marry this guy who hates me. But I don't want to be the person who denies her happiness." She exhaled slowly, not looking any more relaxed than before.

"That's not it, is it?" Andrei said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Katie shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "But I can't tell you."

"That's okay." Andrei said, putting his arms around her. "It'll be alright." He said, as she cried her broken heart out.

. . . .

"It's getting late, I should get you back to the carriage." Lee said. It was just a short walk from the courtyard they were walking in.

"Oh, I hate it when I have to go back." Kaleigh said. "First I was complaining about how slowly time was passing, but then I met you and suddenly the days are too short. I hardly get to see you between all your classes and homework."

"I know, and I really wish that we had more time to spend together. I mean you're only going to be here until June."

"And I don't even want to think about that." Kaleigh said. "What do you think is going to happen? To us?"

The carriage came into view and both of them slowed their pace, as they always did when it was time to leave. "I don't know, but I don't want to think about it either."

"We have two hundred and eleven days until I have to leave." Kaleigh said. "I counted."

Lee smiled. "We'll make the most of it. But right now, I want to focus on this moment."

Kaleigh looked up at him. "Make it something special." She whispered.

"Aren't all of our moments special?"

She smiled. "Yes, but I want this one to stand out." She stepped closer.

"Okay."

Lee leaned in closer to close up the space between them. Kaleigh closed her eyes just as their lips met. It was a short and sweet kiss that she wished would last longer, but just like everything else good, it ended before she knew it had started, leaving her tingly and excited. When they pulled apart she could still feel it and didn't open her eyes for another few seconds. When she finally opened her eyes she saw him smile at her.

"Was that memorable?"

She nodded, at a loss for words to describe the feeling.

. . . .

"I think this is a really bad idea." Alicia said from the doorway.

"Well we're technically doing this for _her _good right?" Angelina said.

Alicia looked around the room. "I hope so because she's not going to be happy when she finds out we've been snooping through her stuff."

"Okay, which picture was it?" Angelina asked. "There's at least twenty on the dresser and another five on the nightstand."

"The frame was silver with green and purple grape vine designs." Alicia said. "I think they might have been part of a set though."

Angelina quickly looked at the photos. "Okay there's a picture of her sisters, one of the three of us, and that's it."

Alicia frowned. "There has to be another one, it was smaller. I remember that. Look around for it."

The two girls methodically searched her trunk and drawers, in which they found nothing. Her schoolbag consisted only of books, papers, ink, and a quill. The one drawer in her nightstand was filled with sweets and the pictures on top weren't framed with the one of Alicia's description. Her dresser drawers held only clothes and a few make up items that looked unopened. Katie's trunk held random items and books that she hadn't the time to read, but nothing suspicious or helpful. Sweatshirts, jackets, and heavy overcoats were hanging in the wardrobe, but nothing else suspicious.

"I haven't found anything." Angelina said twenty minutes later. "Maybe this was a bad idea after all, I mean she'll tell us when she's ready."

"Yeah, I guess." Alicia said, sitting down on the bed. "I just wish we'd been more aware of all those pictures, I mean how long has she had them?"

Angelina shrugged. "I don't know, but I feel like this is wrong."

"You're right. You go ahead, I'll clean this up." She said, gesturing to the mess they made in their search.

"You sure? I'll help." Angelina said.

Alicia laughed. "Angie, you're horrible at cleaning, it'll be faster if I do this. Besides, you still have your Potions essay to do, this will only take a minute."

Angelina sighed and left the room. Alicia set about to put everything back to where it was and with a few waves of her wand everything was in place again. She was done. But still something felt incomplete, she noticed, looking at the dresser. She couldn't put her finger on it. There were the pictures of Katie with Angelina and Alicia, Fred and George, her sisters, parents, and other friends.

"So what's missing?" She said aloud. That's when she noticed, it, there were pictures of her and Leanne, and one of her and Andrei with the giant squid in the lake, but none of Marko. "She lied?" Alicia sat down on the bed.

She spotted a pair of rolled up socks she hadn't seen earlier and bent down to pick it up and saw a metal corner sticking out from under Katie's pillow. It was a silver swirl with green leaf shapes on it. _Of course! _Why didn't she think of it before? Dropping the socks, Alicia moved Katie's pillow. There, face down, was a picture frame bordered with a green and purple grape vine design. Taking in her breath, Alicia reached out and flipped it over.

. . . .

Angelina tuned out Kim and Tina's conversation and stared at the fire. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about her situation. It was getting harder to resist Amaiko's subtle but snide comments. No matter what she said to herself or what Alicia and Katie said to her nothing helped. She refused to let it show on the outside, but that only made it easier to crumble inside. _No one is invulnerable_, she reminded herself, but she felt like it was expected of her.

"Hey Angelina, we're going to bed." Tina said. "I know it's only ten, but we've got a horrible set of classes tomorrow and god knows how much sleep I'm going to be getting tomorrow."

"'Night." Angelina said. She wished she could go up to her dorm with them, but she had an unfinished essay.

"Hey." Fred came seconds later and sat down in the chair Kim previously occupied.

"Hey." Angelina faked a smile and then turned back to her Potions book. She felt a certain unease, with his presence. It was nice that he was without a clingy and annoying Amaiko who was always trying her best to make Angelina squirm with jealousy, but at the same time it made things slightly harder because Amaiko was her excuse not to keep up conversations. "Potions essay too?" She asked when he flipped open his book.

Fred nodded. "I still need two more paragraphs."

Amaiko was good at Potions_. _"Oh." She said, deciding that pointing this out might come across as jealous. The thought suddenly occurred to her. Maybe there wasn't really anything between them. Maybe, Amaiko was his excuse not to talk to her. Alicia and Katie had both doubted _any _sort of relationship between them.

The two of them worked in silence for several stretched out minutes. Aside from the crackling and popping of the fire, which seemed to be trying to make sure it never became _too _quiet, and the scratching of their quills against parchment there was no sound. Before, this would have been enough to take her breath away, but she concentrated on her essay. Instead of breaking the silence, she left it up to him to either skate on thin ice or try to break it.

_Who am I trying to kid? _A small voice spoke up in her head after twenty or so minutes. Fred hadn't said a single word or looked up from his paper. He was every bit as stubborn as her and what she was doing was like trying to force magnets that had the same poles. They were too stubborn and wouldn't give in. She could force them together, but they would spring apart just as soon as she let go. The only way for things to work was to flip one over. But flipping it over was like giving up and she didn't want to do it.

Five minutes later she set aside her essay. So maybe she was giving up, but if someone spent the whole day trying to force the magnets together wouldn't it have been a huge waste of time? Angelina sighed, there was no need to be unreasonable. "Talk to me." She said.

"About what?"

She couldn't quite look up at him, so she stared down at her hands. "Anything." _Just something._

Fred was silent. Angelina couldn't be sure if this was because he wasn't sure what to say or if he didn't want to say anything, but she chose to believe the first one. That way there would still be part of him that she still knew.

"It shouldn't be this hard." She said softly.

He stared into the depths of the fire. "I'm sorry, I just can't think right now."

"I don't remember you ever having to think about what you say to me." Angelina said, keeping her voice quiet.

His eyes flickered out the window, the view obscured by thick sheets of pouring rain. "Remember that time…"

Angelina smiled. _ Of course I do, _she thought as they reminisced the better times, _and I miss them_.

. . . .

Alicia squeezed the water out of her hair as she stepped onto the staircase. She had been outside in the courtyard when it started pouring.

_I hate him. _

She dismissed the bitter thought as soon as it crossed her mind.

_I don't hate him, I can't._

She only wished that it wasn't so hard to be around him. But no matter how much it hurt, she would stay with him no matter what. She'd be his anything.

_But why doesn't he love me?_

It was a desperate, childish, and silly thought with a plain and simple answer.

_Because he loves someone else more than me._

Alicia stepped onto a second staircase that would lead her to the third floor. She couldn't feel anything, because of the icy rain that had numbed her body. Almost anything, there was still the pain of heartache, but it was easier to pretend it wasn't there. Now she understood why Katie loved the rain so much. Sometimes it felt like all the droplets of clear water would wash you away clean. And sometimes it just makes you feel numb enough to forget it all. But only if you're lucky.

"Hey Alicia." It was Danny.

"Hey." She said, trying to smile but feeling as though she failed.

"You must be freezing, why were you outside?" Danny asked.

Alicia shrugged as they stepped past each other. "I went for a walk when it started pouring and by the time I came in I was soaking. I better go dry off. See you tomorrow."

Danny smiled, but he looked slightly disappointed. "See you."

It was only after she took two more steps that she realized it. She still hadn't given him an answer to his invitation to the Yule Ball. Leaning over the railing she called out his name. "Danny!"

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"Is it too late to say yes?"

. . . .

"She said yes?!" Wendy and Sherry cried out in surprise and excitement. "Oh my god! That's great!" Wendy said.

Sherry wondered where all this enthusiasm came from. Just days before she was grumbling about how stupid it was. "Wow Danny, I'm so excited for you." She said, smiling.

"Of course she's going to regret it later." Ben joked.

Everyone laughed.

"Danny…" Wendy said in the sweetest way possible. Ben raised his eyebrows and Sherry resisted the urge to laugh.

"Yeah?"

"Since you and Ben are going with Angelina and Alicia don't you think that we should get to know their friends too?" Ben and Sherry exchanged looks of surprise. This was very un-Wendy. "We could meet up at Hogsmeade this weekend, or I know that you've been wanting to play against them in some practice Quidditch."

"That's a great idea!" Danny said. "Wen, you're brilliant, you know that?"

Wendy smiled triumphantly. "Of course I know that."

"Too bad you still have to convince the rest of us." Sherry said, laughing. "I'm kidding." She added, though it was unnecessary, as everyone else was laughing too.

"Hey Wendy?" Chanelle, a shy girl in their year said. "You um left your essay in the library, I got it for you, but it's still unfinished."

"Oh my god!" Wendy jumped up. "I can't believe I forgot to do it!" She swore and ran up to her dorm to get her Arithmancy book.

Ben stretched out on his chair and checked his watch. Eleven ten."I better get going on Flitwick's review questions, and then I'm going to bed, it's late."

"'Night." Sherry and Danny said together.

"Okay, be honest." Sherry said. "You knew she was going to say yes didn't you?"

Danny shrugged. "Not really, I thought about what you said and there was a high chance she would have said no." Sherry smiled at his humility. It was one of the things that made him an awesome person. "What about you? You haven't said who you wanted to go with."

"Oh, I haven't thought about that either." Sherry said. "The Ball isn't the most important thing to me."

"Aw Sher, tell the truth."

"The truth? Is kind of boring." Sherry absently strummed her guitar. She and Danny both had musical talent. Usually she would write the words and Danny would figure out the melody, but sometimes they would reverse the roles.

"Is that a new song?" Danny asked.

"Kind of." She said, stopping.

"Let's hear it."

Sherry looked down, not wanting him to see her blush. "It's not done."

"So?"

"Later." Sherry said.

"Later? Sounds good. I better get to bed, too, first thing tomorrow is double Ancient Runes and I definitely need to be awake for that." Danny said.

"Yeah and it's with Alicia." Sherry said.

"That too."

Sherry laughed and watched him leave the common room. She was now the only person in the common room. She sighed, wishing she could tell him the truth, and pulled her guitar case over. A fresh wave of sorrow washed over her and she wished again that she had been honest when she had the chance.

_Now it's too late_, she thought sadly.

A tear slid down her cheek. "I hope she loves you more than me." She said to the empty common room.

_**I hope that wasn't too much1 No need to say that this plot is thickening a lot. Feel free to go back and read previous chapters if you can't remember what's going on. Just remember to...  
**_

_**REVIEW please!  
**_


	16. In His Heart

The Truth About Love- Chapter 16

_**I know that I haven't updated in like a week and I'm SO SORRY! Anyhows, thanks Vero, TealCrystalCat, Bellx, , Dana, XxrandomxX (double reviews, thanks!), and xXAMBERXx for their reviews!!!! :) And if you don't understand who Katie likes by the end of the chapter then you need glasses... because it's OBVIOUS if you read it.**_

"You alright Sher?" Ben asked.

Sherry looked up. Ben had come back down to retrieve the murder mystery novel he was reading. He regarded her with worried blue eyes. "I'm fine." Sherry said, "Just really tired." She rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, okay." He let it go. "Good night."

"'Night." Sherry said, smiling at him for a brief second, enough so that he didn't exactly have time to

Sherry curled up on the chair by the last glowing embers of the fire and buried her face into Danny's sweatshirt, which he left draped on the arm of her chair. It was the only thing she could do to muffle the sound of her crying. Even so, her sobs echoed in the empty common room, which wasn't the best place to do this, since anyone could come in at any given second. But since she couldn't go anywhere else this late, the common room would have to do.

Her body shook and she couldn't stop it. The fire had burned out, the one in the common room and all her hope had been extinguished. She sniffed and tried to breathe evenly, but wound up crying again. The tears just kept coming and coming. Her secret wishes, dreams, and love had been silenced until now and the fact that they would never be brought to reality was just too much for her.

She didn't quite know exactly why she was so upset. Danny had been with other girls before, not a lot, he wasn't that kind of person, but this wasn't the first time. Sherry still got along with them fairly well, but for some reason this time was different. It felt… definite. She couldn't explain it, but she knew Danny and this just felt like finality for her. So maybe it wasn't the end of the world that she missed her chance, but it sort of felt like it.

There had never been the need to tell him about her feelings, she liked their relationship. At least they were close, and she didn't want to put that on the line. Sometimes she wished it was more, but as she watched other relationships come to their end she realized she didn't want that to happen. A few times she wondered if he had felt the same, but to a certain point the line between friends and more started to blur and she felt like the area between the lines was very vast.

But it was still only in between, she knew she would never be on the other side. She would never be with him.

Why? There were so many reasons. But the number one reason? It was simple.

_I'm not that girl._

Alicia was lucky. Because she _was _thatgirl. Maybe that was the way it was supposed to be.

_I should have known._

Should have known that Danny would never love someone like her. Not when there was Alicia. Alicia, who was pretty, smart, funny, and unlike her, she _loved _Quidditch, just like him. Who would ever want to take a second look at her? She was Just Plain Sherry and Alicia was always _amazing, _that was everyone's word for her.

So there it was. What she should have realized so long ago. She could love him more than any other girl, but it wasn't up to her, it was his choice. And she would never have that place by his side, in his heart.

_Because both of us know it, I'm not like Alicia, and I never could be. I'm just not her._

. . . .

"Hey." Alicia froze, in the middle of turning her page.

"Hi." She said, hoping that her voice sounded somewhat normal.

She had been nervous about being around George ever since she agreed to go to the Ball with Danny. It felt like she was missing out on something and it made her uneasy. What if he was _about _to ask when she told him that she was already going with someone? Of course there was only a very slim chance that would ever happen, but she thought about it anyways. Besides, he had asked Caroline. But Caroline was Caroline. And she was just Alicia.

"Um…" She said, setting the page down, before realizing it would mean having to read the same page again. "So how is everything?" She wished she had something better to say.

"Good, I guess." He sounded alright and smiled at her. Her heart skipped, but she didn't want to think anything of his smile. Although it was the first genuine smile she had seen in a while from him… or a lot of people, it seemed to be a bad time right now for everyone.

Alicia nervously smiled back. "That's good."

"What about you?" His hazel eyes searched hers and she knew he would be able to detect any lie she said, so she opted for a vague truth.

"I'm alright." Her eyes automatically darted away when she said that, the way she always did when she lied.

"That's good." George said. Alicia wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that he had let this go.

_Maybe it's just not meant to be. No, it just _isn't.

Some things weren't, but it didn't stop anyone from wanting them. As far as she knew, the more something was out of reach the more you wanted it. There was something about being unable to attain it that caught your attention. Funny of course, that George would be considered out of reach when she knew him longer than many of her friends, but there were different kinds of closeness.

"Yeah." Alicia said, swallowing hard and focusing on a point about two inches left of his shoulder so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

Sometimes being friends, even friends who were so close it was hard to tell what kind of love was between them, just wasn't enough. She didn't know what they had. Maybe he considered their friendship the kind where they were like brother and sister. Or maybe it was just a close friendship where they understood each other without having to put thoughts into words. One thing she knew it wasn't, was bordering on romance. There might have been a time for that, but it had long since passed.

"Alicia are you okay?" Roles were being reversed. George was the one making sure _she _was okay and she was the one trying to let go.

"I'm fine." She said, closing her book. She desperately wanted to get away. She wasn't sure if this was how he felt before, but if it was she definitely sympathized, because at the moment she wanted to hide away and never show her face. Their parts were definitely reversed and it felt awkward and she wanted to avoid it.

_This isn't how it's supposed to be. _

They were supposed to be good friends. But every day she could feel her ties to him fall away as they kept their secrets to themselves. It seemed to be happening a lot, Katie was drifting away and towards her little group with Leanne, Marko, and Andrei. Angelina refused to admit obvious truths and was wrapped up in her own struggles. Then somewhere Lee and Kaleigh were floating in their perfect world away from the rest of them. And Alicia? She had to admit that with her ever growing amount of homework and the drama going around she had been slowly gravitating away from everyone else.

These last years in school were important. They might possibly be all the time left she had to spend with her friends. It could also have been her last chance with George.

_But too many things can go wrong._

Maybe friendship wasn't enough right now, but she highly doubted she'd feel the same if things didn't work out and she didn't even have what she started with. Love is something you can't force upon someone. And she knew that from experience. But it didn't stop her from wishing that the answer to this was easier to find and that maybe, tomorrow he would finally wake up and understand.

"Caroline said she was going to the Ball with you." Alicia said, changing the subject. She had gotten the words mixed up, "I mean she said she asked you." It was pretty much the same thing anyways, he _wanted _to go with her.

"I did, but I didn't think about it when I asked. I'm kind of glad she said no. The Ball is a waste of time anyways."

Alicia nodded, but didn't really say anything. What was left to say? Their conversations had stopped being random and fun, they were strictly bound to monosyllable greetings and awkward sentences that tried to interrupt silence. This was it.

She knew that no matter how many times she stayed up staring at his picture, he would never understand. Sometimes it bothered her to have his picture smiling at her. She could understand why Katie had put down her picture. She didn't need to be reminded that there was nothing there. Pictures can only freeze a moment and bring it to life again, but it can't make dreams reality.

No one wanted to look at him and remember just in time, that it was no use. Because there was already someone else there, blocking her way to him and no matter how hard she tried, she always had to give in and come to the same conclusion. She couldn't keep this up, at some point she would have to stop and know that even though there was no returning, there was never any chance of succeeding.

_I can't force love and I don't want to. I have to face the truth. _

"Angelina said you were going to the ball with Danny." George said. A reply to her attempt at conversation.

"Yeah." She managed to smile.

"That's cool." She couldn't tell if he wanted to say more or not, but just like the way she didn't question anything else, he waited for her to say something instead.

But what was there to say? Was she going to lie and say she was completely in love with Danny? Okay maybe it was only half a lie, she loved being around him. But she didn't want to say that she only agreed because she was desperate, that might make things too obvious. "He asked me last week and I've really gotten to know him. But we might only be going as friends, it depends on what happens."

She wondered if this was too much of a hint, but George didn't seem to catch on. Maybe it was a sign.

_I'm just not the one. I'm not her._

. . . .

Katie pulled the curtains away and watched the droplets of rain hit the glass and run down. Each raindrop had its own story.

"I'm going out." She said to Leanne untying her black robes and letting them drop on the bed. She was wearing jeans and a light blue long sleeve shirt underneath. She grabbed a hairtie from her dresser and hastily tied up her hair.

"But it's raining outside." Leanne said, pointing outside where the thick gray clouds blanketed the sky and rain was beating down.

Katie tied her shoes. "I know." She pulled a black sweatshirt over her head.

Leanne looked at Katie with a quizzical expression. "Well… okay, but it won't be very much fun."

"Bye." Katie closed the door behind her and made her way out. Most people were in their common rooms, where the fire was burning. She pushed past the large stone doors of the castle.

The rain felt cool and reassuring. She twirled around and tilted her head up so that she could feel the droplets of water on her face. She realized that she must look ridiculous, but it didn't really matter to her as she pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes and set out towards the Forbidden Forest. She knew only two people who regularly ventured there while everyone else liked to avoid it, but she knew that if you took the right paths then the Forbidden Forest was just another land of adventure.

From behind her someone playfully tugged on her hood.

"Hey." Katie turned and smiled at Fred.

"What you doing out here? Don't most people stay inside when it rains?"

"Shouldn't you know by now that I'm not like most people?" Katie asked.

He shrugged. "Fair enough." He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "So if I were to venture a guess as to where we're going…"

"Would you really have to guess?" Katie laughed.

"No, but there are so many places you _could _go."

They stopped in front of the border of trees at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. "Okay." Katie said. "Take me somewhere else."

"Come on." Fred darted between narrowly spaced trees and ran up ahead.

"Wait!" Katie ran after him. "That's not fair, you have longer legs than me."

Fred slowed to a brisk walk. "When are you going to grow?" He leaned his arm against her shoulder like an armrest.

"Height doesn't ensure maturity." She poked him. "When will _you _grow up?"

He grinned. "Never. And I don't think you ever did either. Twirling around in the rain?"

"It's fun!"

"Well so is not listening to rules."

"But that's different" Katie insisted, brushing aside the brambles in her way. They snagged onto her sweatshirt and she had to free each individual thorn.

"How?"

"It just is."

"That's not a reason." Fred ducked under a branch at least a foot over Katie's head. His red hair brushed her cheek. _When did he get so tall? _She was definitely short, but she barely reached his shoulder height.

"Yes it is."

"Not a good one."

"Okay, you win." She said. "What else is new?"

He shrugged. "I'm finally free of Amaiko. She was really starting to annoy me."

"But yet you never broke up with her until now. You are so clueless about these things. I don't think you've ever really cared about this kind of drama either."

Fred didn't seem to mind her blatantly honest comments. "I still don't."

"Have a clue, or care?"

"I don't know, maybe both."

Katie laughed. It sounded melodic and echoed slightly through the forest.

Fred smiled. "How long has it been since you really laughed?"

"I don't know." She said truthfully. "Things haven't exactly been a cake walk. I've noticed I'm not the only person either."

"I've noticed that too. But despite that you know everyone's worried about you."

She smiled, held her arms wide and spun around. "I'm fine aren't I?"

"Back to normal?"

"I don't think I've ever been _normal _but I guess this is as close as it gets." _For now at least._

Fred brushed aside a stretch of branches and leaves, which seemed so tangled up and intertwined that they looked like a solid wall of green. Reluctantly, they moved back and revealed a large clearing.

"Haven't I been here before?" Katie said. The place was familiar. It looked like any other part of the Forest, but she had been here before. She knew because there was a swing hanging off one of the branches of a tree that brought back memories, that were hazy, but had a sort of clarity that finally made her realize exactly where she was.

"Yeah, we used to come here a lot, but I thought you forgot."

"No… I didn't forget." She ran her fingers against the tree next to her where she had engraved her name. Katie, with a heart dotting the i. Suddenly she didn't want to be here. "Let's go back." She said, turning around.

"Why?" Fred matched her two steps with one.

"I just… please." Katie said, breaking into a run. Branches snagged at her clothing and thorns scratched her face, but she ran off the familiar path and until she came to a forked pathway.

"Katie!" Fred put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She forced herself to breathe. "Nothing, I just… it was weird, seeing it. I haven't been there in so long… and I…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you upset."

Katie shook her head. "It's not your fault. It just that being there triggered some memories, and some of them I didn't want to remember."

She felt that she had said too much. She could see Fred trying to remember, but they had been there so many times that she doubted any such memory came to mind. Not for him at least. As for her? She didn't want to think about it. Not now. Not anymore. Not ever.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Can we just go back?"

"Yeah, it's this way." He gently turned her to the left path and she walked slowly, as if not really paying attention to anything.

It was a long way back and for the first part they walked in silence, with Fred occasionally pointing out the way and the sound of branches being pushed aside. Katie tried to push that moment, which had suddenly been brought back to life, out of her mind. She didn't want to think about it. What surprised her most is that she _hadn't _thought about it until now. It was being there that had suddenly triggered the memory.

"I'm sorry." Katie said, in a small voice.

"It's okay."

"I made a big deal out of it and really it's nothing to worry about. I'm fine, it was just a sudden surprise when I—when I went there."

He knew there was something else, and Katie was sure of it. But instead of trying to understand more, the way he usually would, he seemed to decide it was better to leave her be. She knew it wasn't his usual approach, but maybe it was because this was different. She usually didn't run away, but this…

"Don't blame yourself." He said softly.

"I'll try to forget." She didn't know why she just said that to him, but she couldn't take back her words.

The rain had stopped and weak sunlight could be seen through the tiny spaces between the canopy of leaves above them, but it didn't penetrate the gloomy forest. She could see the sunlight up ahead and knew they were almost there. When they reached the edge, she stopped again. She felt like she should say something, but didn't know what. To make up for the sudden stop, she picked up a pretty blue flower and continued on.

Fred took the flower by the stem, his fingers avoiding contact with hers, and put the flower in her hair.

"How do I look?" She asked.

"Smile."

She managed a weak half smile.

"You look beautiful."

She blushed, and looked up at the rainbow above the castle so he wouldn't see. His comment made her happy, but also slightly sad all over again.

_Maybe, but I'm not her. _

_**This is another one of those chapters where there's parallels created between the characters. I did the same thing in Chapter 13, It Is What It Is, except this time I left out Taryn because her situation is pretty easy to understand. I wanted to add Cam, but I haven't been hearing much from you and there's too much going on already and I dont' want to make it confusing.**_

_**Reviews please :)  
**_


	17. Breathe In

The Truth About Love- Chapter 17

_**Thanks to my three reviews from Cam, Vero, and weasley's second daughter. I feel like I scared most of you away with all the depressing stuff so here's a happy...er...ish chapter. I tried to make it mostly positive.**_

"There you are." Chris said, when the stone door opened.

"Sorry! Kitoko was like all over me and demanding to know where I was going." Amaiko said, annoyed. "I told her I had to return a library book so I only have a few minutes."

"Return a library book? Amaiko, you hate reading, she'll know you're up to something." Chris said.

Amaiko just rolled her eyes. "We all know that Kitoko's perhaps not as bright as me. So just shut up and kiss me."

For a very short three minutes Amaiko felt like she could forget the rest of the world, along with a certain stubborn red-headed jerk, and isolate herself in a world that was just her and Chris. Her sister wasn't important, everyone knew she was better and Chris wasn't the first to say so. But tonight, for some reason, there was a lack of passion from both of them.

"What's wrong Chris?" Amaiko asked, her fingers playing with his hair.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how I'm going to break this to Kitoko." Chris said, grinning. "She's not going to be too happy huh?"

Amaiko smiled and in the candlelight it made her face look eerie. "Oh, let's not worry about her. It's just about us tonight." She said, fingering the collar of his shirt.

There was a sudden sound of footsteps, a clatter, and a gasp. "Did you hear that?" Chris turned his attention from Amaiko to the stone door, which was still open and to the fleeting shadow that flickered by. "Someone knows."

. . . .

"Are you sure?" Alicia asked, for the umpteenth time during dinner.

"Yes, I'm positive. I saw it with my own eyes." Angelina whispered back.

"Oh no." Alicia said.

Angelina turned around. "What?" Then she saw it. "Ugh, no." Amaiko had gotten up from her table and was making her way through the crowds towards Fred. "And I thought we wouldn't have to deal with her again."

"The twenty four hours were quite nice though." Alicia said.

"Amaiko, what do you want?" Fred sounded wary.

"To apologize." Amaiko said, adopting her whiny voice she used when she wanted to get what she wanted. Alicia rolled her eyes and Angelina glared at her in disgust. "For the way I acted. I'm sorry."

"Okay." Fred didn't even turn around to look at her. Angelina was really appreciating his cold one word answers as of the moment. It was somewhat amusing to watch Amaiko squirm.

"So…" Amaiko stretched out the word and rocked up on her toes. "Is everything okay then?"

"What do you mean?"

Amaiko shifted from side to side, trying to look nervous, but in a cute way. People had stopped eating to watch and it was easy to tell none of them were fooled. "Are _we _okay?"

Fred gave her a look of cool apprehension. "I thought I made it clear to you yesterday what the answer to that question is."

Several girls started giggling. Angelina looked down and smirked.

"Oh Fred, it's obvious that it was just a bad day for both of us, you don't _really _want to end it just for a tiny disagreement do you?" She widened her eyes and pouted her lips. "I thought…" She swallowed, trying to look like she was fighting back tears.

"You thought wrong."

Amaiko sniffed. "But Fred…"

Angelina's fork clattered onto her plate loudly. This was just too much. "Would you just leave us alone?" She stood up, drawing herself to full height, a good two inches taller than her. "Obviously you're unwelcome. And I wonder, why would do you even bother when you can borrow your sister's boy toys?"

There was a collective gasp from the Great Hall and whispers and giggles were passed around the room.

Amaiko glared at Angelina, an expression of pure contempt and hatred. She had loathed her from the start. "Excuse me?" Each syllable had a threatening tone to it. She had dropped her act.

"You heard me." Angelina said, staring her down. "I saw you, just fifteen minutes ago with Chris Liang, and last time I checked, he was going out with your sister."

Amaiko laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Prove it. Kitoko doesn't believe it," She turned to her sister and her voice turned to honey, thick, and sickeningly sweet. "Do you?"

Kitoko stood up, knocking over a platter of chicken and whirled around to face Chris. "You called me Amaiko last night!" She said shrilly. "I knew something was going on!"

For a moment Chris looked disoriented, but he composed himself. "Kitoko, I would never do that to you." He reached for her hand. "You know that."

Kitoko jerked her hand away and slapped him across the face. "Get away from me!"

There were more gasps and giggles and whispers. Chris looked embarrassed, Amaiko furious, and Kitoko was beyond angry as she stormed out of the Great Hall. Angelina sat down and to her relief everyone was too busy talking about Amaiko, Chris, and Kitoko to really care about what she did.

"Wow, you just stirred enough drama for the gossip mongers to talk about for another month." Alicia said, not sounding the least bit concerned.

Angelina turned to look at Fred, who grinned at her from across the table. She blushed, and turned way.

. . . .

"What are you looking at?" Andrei joined Katie by the large window in the common room.

Katie rested her chin on her hands and tilted her head, looking thoughtful "See that butterfly?"

"Yeah."

"I wish I could be like that, to be able to fly away from whatever bothers me." She said softly. "Or… it would be nice just to be able to take flight whenever I want to. To be under that clear blue sky and feel the rush of air underneath. Have you ever thought about that?" She looked at him with her wide brown eyes filled with a sort of sad inquiring look.

The truthful answer was no. Usually Katie's deep thinking never made any sense to him. "Hm. You make a point, but butterflies always get blown away by the wind. They can't really stand up against anything."

Katie thought about this. "Not if they go with the current."

"But what if you don't want to go where everyone else does? Isn't the advantage of flight being able to fly above everything else and escape? You can't resist much when you have paper thin wings."

"That's true." Katie said after a long moment of contemplation. She watched the red butterfly flutter towards the flowers on the window sill. She opened the window and reached her hand out. The butterfly landed on her finger. She smiled. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's nice outside." Without waiting for his answer she transferred the butterfly to the plants and then crossed the common room.

"I swear I will never figure her out." Andrei said. He didn't sound angry, only confused. "And it's raining outside."

"Hm." Leanne said from her chair where she was curled up in Marko's lap reading a book. "Then you're either thinking too much or not trying to."

"And it's only drizzling, so you better go if you're planning to catch up to her." Marko added.

Outside the rain was coming in light drizzles. There was a double rainbow over the castle. The grass seemed to glow greener, covered in tiny, magnifying drops of rain. Andrei watched Katie run into the courtyard, laughing and twirling around. She was wearing a light green patterned skirt that showed off her tiny waist and a peach colored shirt.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the gates of the courtyard.

Andrei twirled her around and then leaned against the wrought iron gate, just watching her. He realized he could have stood there for the whole day, just watching her and not have any idea what she was thinking, but enjoy just being in her company. When she was happy, Katie was the kind of person to light up the whole room. Right now, she looked like she could have blended right into the scene.

Her green skirt was the same color as the light stems and leaves of the plants. Her small and slender figure, with her hair blowing in the wind seemed to mimic the plants as they bent in the breeze. He noted the features of her heart-shaped face. She had big brown eyes, with long, curved eyelashes, that were usually filled with curiosity. Her silky brown wavy hair was partly blowing in the wind, and part of it was hastily clipped. Tendrils of hair framed her face.

"What are you looking at?" She asked.

"Nothing." He answered. "What are _you _looking at?"

She pointed behind him. "The rainbow."

He turned to look at the spectrum of color, realizing he would look awkward if she was watching the rainbow while he stared at her.

"Rainbows are one of the reasons I love the rain." Katie said.

"What are the others?"

She shrugged. "There's a lot." She leaned her arms against the gate and rocked back on her heels. "The raindrops wash everything clean. Then when it stops the whole world is renewed and glowing. Everything bad gets washed away and you're left with all the good things you never appreciated."

"Hmmmm." He never understood the way she thought about things.

"Look at that leaf." She said, pointing to a bright green leaf hanging over their heads. A droplet of water was clinging onto the edge and at the angle they were standing the sunlight hit the raindrop and cast a small arc of multi-colored light. "I bet you never noticed that."

"No. But rainbows are really just optical illusions."

Katie turned and looked at him curiously, as if she had never seen him before. He stared right back at her. After a few moments' silence she finally spoke again. "I suppose that depends on who's looking at it." She turned away and looked back up at the brilliant crescent of colors.

. . . .

Angelina sat on the edge of the Astronomy Tower, looking out at the sky, which was making its transformation from sunset to twilight.

She watched the glowing red sliver, all that was left of the sun, sink under the horizon. The sky was still blue and the ocean still glittered. Then colors began to blend in, brilliant oranges, all shades of pink, varying hues of purple, transfixing tints of red, and soft colors of pale peach and glowing golden yellows. For a few glorious moments the sky seemed to be a canvas of abstract colors, painted to perfection, before it all began to fade into the deep blue of night.

Slowly, the colors turned translucent and seemed to gradually evaporate. The moon, which had been just a faint outline in chalk began to take shape and form. In less than ten minutes the light blue sunlit sky had been transformed into a sea of navy blue, glowing in the silvery light of the moon. One by one, the stars began to twinkle into focus. A thin layer of misty cloud seemed to be covering the sky, making the lights blend and break.

"So this is where you are."

Angelina turned and smiled. "Hey Ben. I didn't know you were looking for me."

"Kind of. Everyone disappeared and I was just kind of looking for _someone_."

"Hm." Although this could have easily been a fabricated statement she knew him well enough to know he never lied and this was hardly something worth falsifying. "Well I'm glad you're here." Angelina said, moving closer to him. She liked their relationship because they were honest about their feelings and she didn't have to pretend. Ben was so easy to trust.

"Me too." Ben reached for her hand and she felt heat electricity spark between them.

Angelina felt her heart racing to keep up with her mind, which was thinking too many things at once to make coherent thoughts. She held her breath. She had only felt_ that _kind of electricity once. And they had almost kissed. Could this…? Could this be their second chance?

She forced herself to calm down. How many times had she thought this might happen with Fred only to be disappointed? She forced herself to look back at the rising moon. "It's nice out here."

"It is." Angelina tilted her head to the side and tried not to get too caught up in his amazingly blue eyes. She absently traced the lines in the stone wall of the Astronomy tower, wishing she could say something. She had never been good at saying things and usually it didn't matter, but right now she felt like there was a certain order of words she was supposed to use.

"You're thinking about something." He said, staring up at the starry night sky.

"Yeah." She said, her finger drawing a little heart.

Ben watched her for a few seconds. "What are you thinking about?"

Angelina turned her head and stopped drawing. "I can't tell you unless you're thinking about the same thing."

"But how do I know?"

"That's the thing." She said. "I'm not sure."

This time she watched him for at least half a minute. The cool night air blew his hair to the side and over his amazing eyes, which were still electrifyingly blue even in the dark. There was something about him that always made him seem so perfect, which Angelina couldn't help being jealous of, as her hair kept getting tangled and knotted by the wind, which was playing with the long strands of dark hair. She finally secured it with a clip, wishing she had Alicia's beauty, Sherry's grace, or Katie's pure and bubbly personality.

"Well," She said finally. "Maybe you don't."

Ben traced the lines on her palm, making her feel over excited and lose her little moment of almost collectiveness. "That's the thing. I'm not sure." He said, playing on her previous words. "So I guess you'll just have to tell me."

"Tell you?" Angelina shook her head, momentarily confused. Ben tucked a strand of hair back. "Wait how do I—"

She didn't finish her sentence. He closed the space between them and cut her off from her moment of hesitation.

There was no way to explain it, the way she breathed in when he breathed out and it made her feel like they were one spiritual being. He had one hand on her waist and the other holding hers. They were as close as they could be, she could feel the heat from him and the cooling of the night air behind her trying to balance it all out. She felt her mind drift away and in her head lights were going off and fiery passion was burning up inside.

When they pulled away she could still feel his lips and remember the way they felt on hers. There was a tingling feeling all over her body that kind of made her shiver, but not in a bad way. "So, were we thinking the same thing or did you just want to spare my feelings?" Ben asked.

Angelina's eyes were still wide with surprise and amazement. "No, that was possibly the best moment of my life."

. . . .

"What are you doing out here?" Alicia stepped onto the scaffold overhanging that looked over the lake. The moonlight on its smooth surface shone silver, with occasional shadowy spots that showed the midnight blue of the lake.

George shrugged. "Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said.

Alicia walked ahead next to him, at the edge of the overhang. "Oh. I couldn't sleep." She said. "I've got ancient rune translations jumbled up in my head along with all the laws of transfiguration and spells for defense."

"You'll do fine." George said, referring to the tests they had the next day, or, he reminded himself, in less than five hours. "Unless that's not what's really bothering you."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Nothing is more important than getting perfect score on these tests. So what are you stressing at this hour about?"

"Nothing important. I just couldn't sleep." He shrugged.

"Something's bothering you. And I know for a fact it's not the tests." Alicia said.

George stared at the lake. "No, but it's not worth bringing up."

"Sure it is." Alicia said, curious.

"I screwed up, okay?" He said with suppressed anguish. "I should have… never mind."

Alicia was taken aback. This was unlike him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about you." The words had suddenly rushed out.

Alicia's eyebrows arched up in cool surprise. "Oh. And exactly what about me?"

"Nothing." He said quickly.

"It's not nothing." She said. "I know what you're saying."

"You do?" He sounded slightly hopeful.

She didn't look at him. "Yes, I do. And it's too late." She didn't know why she was angry, hadn't she _wanted _this to happen? Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had been thinking about this for so long and he never had the courage to voice his own feelings.

"Oh."

Alicia whirled around, her eyes stormy. "I gave you so much time. I waited for you to ask me and I put off giving Danny my answer. You had at least two weeks. But you never said anything until I finally give up and decide that maybe I don't want to be with someone whose afraid of his own feelings and hides behind fabricated lies. Or maybe it wasn't a lie. Maybe I was just your excuse. Well next time you get the chance take it and don't ask me as a last resort."

"Alicia, that's not what I meant, I—"

"Well I meant what I said." She said, walking away from him.

_**So... sucks to be George... but on the other hand our girls are much better now. Or... I guess it's up to your own interpretation. Anyways, like it, love it, hate, it, whatever... just**_

_**REVIEW.**_


	18. Blue Lilies

The Truth About Love- Chapter 18

_**Thanks to TealCrystalCAT, Vero, anon, weasley's second daughter, and XxrandomxX for my reviews ^^ **_

Katie tossed and turned in bed, unable to force her thoughts to rest. She reached under her pillow and her fingers felt the cool metal frame of his picture.

On her dresser drawer there was another picture, except this one had the two of them. Sometimes it was hard for her to see it and remember all those times, but she couldn't bring herself to put it down. The small sliver of light that feebly made its way through the opening in the curtains made it possible to see the frame of lilies. She stared at the picture of them and touched her hair, where in the picture there was a blue lily in her hair.

She thought back to that day when he had put the flower in her hair. It was another blue lily. "Did you remember?" She whispered to the picture.

The figures didn't respond.

Katie sighed and kicked aside the blankets. There was no use in trying to sleep now. She pulled a sweatshirt over her head and grabbed her shoes.

She tiptoed down the stairs and to the portrait above the fireplace where a hidden passage was concealed. Using one of the chairs as a step she climbed onto the brick mantel over the fireplace and reached up to the frame of the portrait and pressed down on one of the metal clasps. The portrait swung open to reveal a long and dark tunneling passage. She pulled the portrait over the opening and a soft click told her that it had locked again.

A candle or lit wand was unnecessary, as she could navigate the passage backwards and blindfolded. They had used this passage so many times before, and the ones that branched off of it. Sometimes she felt like she knew the passage better than she knew him, and better than she knew herself. She took two steps forward and then slid down the long and winding tunnel until she reached the end.

She stood up and whispered a silent incantation. The walls around her suddenly disappeared and she was standing in seemingly the middle of nowhere. Fortunately she knew where she was, because in every direction her surroundings looked the same, tall trees blocked the midnight black sky so that only tiny snatches of moonlight made their way through the shadowed green canopy of leaves.

Without thinking about it, she took the path behind her and walked the more familiar path. She hesitated when she reached the stretch of branches and leaves, intertwined to look like a wall. Taking a deep breath, she brushed them aside and watched the branches unweave and reveal the place where she had spent so much time before.

Once again upon seeing the place memories flooded into her mind, except this time with such clarity she could remember it all. Every word they had spoken to each other, along with all thoughts left unsaid came back to her. She remembered being eleven, her second day here and he had taken her to this special place where they came every night. And suddenly she was thirteen, falling in love for the first time.

"No." She couldn't think about it. It was just too much.

Being here, it was bittersweet to remember how she had flooded with happiness just to be here, and to relive the moment that drove her away. She let all those memories overtake her mind and the past happiness momentarily eclipse the present hurt. For a moment it seemed to work, but then it faded away and the emptiness she felt before now hurt even more.

She turned to the large stream that ran through the clearing, bordered by the blue lilies she so clearly remembered. Her hand reached up to her neck, there was a necklace on a thin chain. She usually wore it under her shirt so no one saw that she still wore it. A blue lily was strung on a silver chain and on the back her name was engraved.

A sudden sadness came over her and she turned away from the lilies, glowing softly in the moonlight. It was the small things that seemed to get her. But the small things are the ones you can't forget. And more importantly, it was impossible to forget. How can you forget when you're where it happened?

. . . .

"So, what's bothering you?" Fred reached past her and grabbed a licorice wand from the pack in her lap. "Saturday afternoon and instead of enjoying the great weather you're moping in your dorm."

"How did you even get in here?" Angelina asked.

He shrugged. "Skipped the first three steps. Anyways, you failed to answer my question. Even Alicia's not studying, she's off with Danny What's-His-Name."

"You know his name." Angelina said.

"Still didn't answer my question…"

Angelina threw her hands up, scattering Charms notes everywhere. "Okay, okay! Nothing's bothering me, nothing happened last night. What makes you think that?" She chewed her fingernails.

Fred grinned. "I didn't say anything about last night."

She scowled and cursed. "Nothing happened."

"Funny. Not what I heard." He said, leaning his shoulder against the wall and putting his hands in his pocket. Angelina realized that Ben did this a lot and for a moment the wind blew Fred's red hair into his eyes and suddenly he was a _lot _like him. Fred waved a hand in front of her face, as she had momentarily spaced out. "So, trouble in paradise, huh?"

"What?!" Angelina stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open. "_Who_ told you that?!"

"So it's true…"

Angelina groaned. "I hate your little mind games…"

He feigned offense. "Mind games? They're just innocent questions you fail to answer. And it was Caroline and that one girl from Ravenclaw… Taryn Carlinger."

"Hmph. I knew she was no good. Who does she even think she is?" Angelina fumed. Fred looked amused and it was a few seconds before she realized he had done it again. "I hate you."

Fred smiled wryly. "Maybe, but I know you wouldn't pass up a chance to explore part of the Forbidden Forest."

Angelina paused. "Are you really going to take me?" As far as she knew Fred and George were the only people who ventured into the Forbidden Forest and they knew it almost as well as the castle. They never took anyone with them despite the many times she had begged.

"Only if you want."

"Are you kidding?" Angelina shoved the books and papers aside. "Take me."

So he grabbed her hand and they ran out of the castle.

. . . .

"It was nice to finally get a chance to spend time together." Danny said when the two of them reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

Alicia smiled. "Yeah, I wish I had been a little more open minded before, you're a great guy, I like being with you."

Danny grinned. "You're pretty amazing too. So tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Alicia confirmed. She was about to turn around, but she felt like it wasn't a very nice goodbye so she hugged him. Danny seemed surprise. "See you then." She said, entering the portrait, glad that he hadn't seen her blush.

Once inside she twirled around and sighed.

Glad that Caroline wasn't there to bother her for details, she found her favorite chair by the window. She unlocked it and opened it to let in a breeze and saw something in the corner of her eye that made her open the window all the way and stick her head out to see clearly. _Is that…? _Yes… it was. Angelina and Fred. She watched them run towards the Forbidden Forest.

Alicia bolted out of the common room and was out of the castle just in time to see their fleeting shadows disappear into the border of trees.

She headed for the direction they disappeared into. It was probably wrong of her and she should have minded her own business, but she couldn't help it. Angelina was not supposed to be running off with Fred when she had kissed Ben the previous night. It wasn't right. She might not have known much about relationships, but Alicia knew for a fact that after what happened with Lee this was not something new.

Two sets of footprints winded through the forest and Alicia followed them. As she made her way through the narrow space between trees and ducked under branches she felt a strange familiarity to the place. She wasn't sure why, since she had never been here before, but it was as if she already knew where she was going. Alicia suddenly stopped at a small pond surrounded by blue lilies, which were everywhere in the forest.

_Blue lilies._

The picture on her dresser she had never paid any attention to.

The necklace she used to wear.

The flower in her hair that day.

Suddenly everything was making sense again.

. . . .

"Have you ever been in love?" Sherry asked, perched atop one of the branches of the trees in the castle courtyard.

Katie contemplated this question. "Yes."

"What was it like?" Sherry seemed kind of sad.

"It was… I don't know, it wasn't that wonderful bubbly feeling people talk about. I liked it for a while, but then when he didn't love me back, it wasn't worth it anymore."

Sherry sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I kissed him when we were seven."

Katie laughed. "What did he do?"

"We started laughing because we didn't know what it was supposed to mean."

"I jumped off of a cliff to see if he would save me." Katie said, wondering how it was that she could tell Sherry this, but not Angelina or Alicia.

"Really? Will you tell me about him?"

"I can't." Katie said. "I haven't even told Angelina or Alicia." She absently reached up to her neck, and suddenly realized her necklace was gone.

Sherry absently tore a leaf into pieces. "Well I'll tell you a secret I haven't told Wendy yet. If you tell me what you won't say."

Katie leaned her head against the trunk of the tree, trying to remember where she might have left it. "Okay, deal."

"I'll go first." Sherry said. She took a deep breath. "I met him when I was six. I moved into the house next to his and we've been friends since then. The truth is, I don't know if I should be happy that we're friends, or sad because that's all we'll ever be. That's all we ever _have _been. But I've been in love with him since we met. Maybe it all started off as a little kid crush and then it turned into some sort of fantasy of mine, but I know now that I'm in love with him."

Katie watched Sherry. She felt like this was almost part of her own story.

Sherry ran her fingers along the veins of the leaves, which were all brilliant autumn colors. "I've never told him about how I felt, I never felt the need to. But for some reason it's all different now. Anyways, Danny doesn't need me."

"Danny?" The thought had never crossed her mind.

Sherry nodded. "Danny. I've liked him from the very beginning, but maybe this is the end."

She was so upset that Katie wanted to say, _"No, it's not over. It's not like that. If you love him then it'll be okay because love is all that matters."_ But that would have been a lie because she knew what the truth was. It doesn't matter if you love him or he loves you or even if you love each other.

"So, tell me about you." Sherry said.

"It's really nothing compared to your story." Katie said.

Sherry shook her head. "It's not like that. It's your story and you can't hide it just because it's different from someone else's."

"I haven't known him as long as you and Danny, I met him the year I came to Hogwarts. When I got sorted into Gryffindor everyone kind of looked at me like 'Why is _she _here?' but he was the first person to actually talk to me. And he kind of took me under his wing and I got to know all his friends and that's mostly the reason I don't really know anyone in my year."

Katie stopped and hesitated, a bit unsure of how to go on.

"I used to be really shy, and I had trouble opening up and telling him what I wanted to. We used to sneak out every night into the Forbidden Forest and there were all these places he'd take me, but my favorite was always this little clearing and for some reason when we went there it became easier for me to talk to him. And so we kept going there every night. We never got caught.

"And I became really close to him and Angelina, Alicia, and the others. It stopped being routine after my second year, but we'd still sneak out and explore the forest and it was _our _thing, we never told anyone else, but I think Alicia and Angelina started to catch on, they just never said it. Well last year we stopped going altogether because he had his O.W.L.'s and this year I have mine.

"So it felt like we started drifting away, but it was too late because I was already in love with him. I had been since I was eleven and I first met him. I think maybe it was just me looking up to my hero at first, but then it became different, we were so close and I could tell him anything and everything. I was thirteen when I finally realized that I was in love with him, it happened there, at that clearing.

"This past summer, I became scared because next year he would have N.E.W.T. exams and then I might not see him after that. But I couldn't tell him. I just couldn't. I knew that he was probably in love with someone else, and I knew that girl liked him back. What happened… it was an accident, a mistake, I shouldn't have done it. I was just so _afraid _because I loved him so much and I couldn't let him go.

"Well, anyways, we went to the beach the Tuesday before coming back. And we were standing on this cliff overlooking the ocean. I didn't want to go, because it looked like it would crumble at any second. But he said that if I fell in he would save me. So I went, and I didn't take his statement literally, although I knew he really would do it. So we stood there in silence and I watched the waves wash against the cliff and the current against the sharp rocks.

"I couldn't take the silence anymore, it felt like I had run out of words to say since I couldn't say what I wanted to."

Katie suddenly stopped, her words had all come rushing out, and she had never said this to anyone, not even Leanne. She had never gone into detail. Sherry looked at her encouragingly. Katie had only met Sherry two days ago, but already she knew they were extremely alike and what she had just revealed only proved that.

Katie swallowed hard. "And so I asked him, 'If I fell into the water, would you really save me?'" She stared at her hands, which were shaking. "And he said of course he would. I asked him again, would he do it even though it put his life in danger?"

Sherry gasped, she had already predicted what would happen.

Katie bit her lip and tears rolled down her cheeks. "And I figured if he loved me he'd save me, and if he didn't then it wouldn't matter because I wouldn't be there anymore. So I jumped off the cliff."

"And." Sherry prompted.

"The water was really cold and the current pushed me down into the water. He jumped into the water after me and saved me. He was really mad about it, he was yelling at me and everything and I started crying, because I knew he hadn't saved me because he loved me, we were still only friends.

"The rest of the summer was awkward and I didn't see him, not even on the train or the carriages. But that first night this year, he came to me in the middle of the night and without saying anything we both went down to the forest and he told me that he was sorry about what happened and I don't think he understood why I did it. But I knew that he didn't love me, and to me that was all there was.

"It became too hard to be near him and I used O.W.L.'s as an excuse, I shut everyone out. It hurt too much to know he didn't love me and it was even worse to know that he didn't know why I was so upset and he didn't understand, after all those years I thought he would know me better than that. But I guess I was wrong."

. . . .

"Where are we?" Angelina asked, when the wall of branches had opened up.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah… it beautiful here." Angelina looked around the clearing. There was a stream running through it surrounded by blue lilies. "It seems familiar though." She said. She felt like she had been here. No one had ever told her about it, but there was something in the back of her mind that made her feel like she had been here. Was it the forest itself? Or the flowers? Or was it the swing hanging on a branch off in the corner?

Fred shrugged. "Maybe. I used to come here all the time."

"I can see why." Angelina said. The place felt so calm and relaxing. She walked over to the blue lilies and noticed something glittering in the dirt. She picked it up. It was a necklace and it looked oddly familiar. She flipped it over and saw, engraved on the back in curvy letters, _Katie._

"I wanted to talk to you." Fred said suddenly.

Angelina was surprised. "Oh. Well you could have said it back at the dorm, or… any time actually. Why did you have to bring me here to say it?" She shoved the necklace in her pocket. Something about it made her feel uneasy. This wasn't just any place, it was special to Katie _and _Fred, something they shared and it made her jealous.

"Because…" For the first time he faltered. "Because I'm not sure if I should even say it."

Angelina stopped, her breath caught in her throat and her heart pounding. She knew for sure, that this was the moment she had been waiting so long for. After spending a year thinking it through and all summer thinking about those few days, _this _was the moment. It was now or never, and she didn't want to wait any longer, she didn't want to have to spend time thinking _what if? _

So without thinking about anything else, the sole idea of being with him had taken over her mind, she put herself in his arms and kissed him.

_**Hm... isn't that interesting... tell me if you side with Angelina or not on this decision... very curious to know. And I know that was not the scene you imagined for Fred and Angelina admitting their feelings, but it turns up the drama. And I'm also trying to show that in case you didn't pick it up, Angelina is not a perfect person, because she's the one stirring up all this trouble.  
**_

_**Oh and if you didn't get the major hint in chapter 16 about Katie, then you should DEFINITELY know who it is now because pretty much half the chapter was about it. **_

_**One more thing, if you've ever seen the movie Atonement, that's where I got the cliff idea, because Briony jumped into a river to see if Robbie would save her. I can already see you people saying that it reminds you of New Moon... but I got the idea from Atonement.**_

_**and ONE LAST THING. Don't forget to REVIEW!  
**_


	19. Away In the Dark

The Truth About Love- Chapter 19

_**Thanks Vero (as always), TealCrystalCAT, Cam, qaz22, weasley's second daughter, and XxrandomxX for reviews. I just wanted to say thanks Kaleigh since you've reviewed all eighteen previously existing chapters, also to XxrandomxX since you've reviewed every chapter starting when you found out. And TealCrystalCAT, the story isn't always going to be happy, I don't know a single book that doesn't have it's sad parts, and I did put George in this chapter, but some characters are more important than others.**_

_**Anyways, thanks for the reviews, and I hope that I can get 100 by the time I update the next chapter :)  
**_

For the longest minute his mind was blank, and he couldn't think about anything.

Then he realized what was going on, and although every part of him didn't want it to stop, he knew it was wrong. So he took her by the shoulders and pushed her away just barely before they were interrupted. "We shouldn't—"

"What are you doing?!"

Angelina whirled around. "Alicia… what are you doing here?"

"Oh, sorry, was I interrupting something important?" Alicia crossed her arms and glared at them, her expression seething with rage.

"It's none of your business." Angelina said through clenched teeth. "Why did you follow us?"

"Why are you doing this to Ben? First Lee and now him? And I shudder to think what happens when you change your mind again. Do you ever think about what you do or what you say?" Alicia said, her voice cold and meant to break glass.

Angelina flared. "You're no better. You don't like Danny, you're the one who's in love with George."

Alicia faltered and both Angelina and Fred saw her indecision. "It's not the same. He chose me as a last resort, not because he cared about me."

Angelina scoffed. "For good reason, obviously."

Alicia gasped and backed away. Angelina smirked in a superior way.

At the look of hurt on Alicia's face Fred jumped to her defense. "Angelina what the—"

"Stay out of it!" Angelina snapped. "And don't act surprised." She added to Alicia, whose eyes were red, holding back tears. "You _know _he would never love you." She reached inside her pocket and clenched her fingers around the necklace until she felt the engraved name imprinted on her hand.

"I stopped you because you were my best friend and I didn't want you to make another mistake." Alicia said, her voice wavering. "But maybe I'm the one that made a mistake in choosing you as my best friend." She turned and ran away, before they could see the first tear fall.

"Angelina what was that for? She didn't do anything wrong." Fred gripped her arm and spun her around.

"Never you mind." Angelina said, pulling her arm away from his vice like grip. Now that it was just the two of them he could feel the hurt in her voice. "This isn't about you. And maybe it's not about me either." She withdrew her hand from her pocket and forced the necklace into his hand before walking away.

. . . .

Katie entered the Forbidden Forest. Her necklace had probably fallen off last night. She separated the wall of branches and looked around for a glitter of silver.

"We're almost there."

Katie froze. If she could hear voices then they were too close. Forgetting about the necklace, Katie ducked behind a bush just in time.

"Where are we?" Angelina and Fred stepped into the clearing. Katie carefully moved a few of the leaves without rustling them so she could see.

She didn't hear the next few lines of conversation. She couldn't believe it. This was supposed to be their special place and he had brought Angelina here. No one else was supposed to know, not even George did, and maybe it was stupid of her, but she thought that it was to stay that way. There was something about knowing that they were the only ones who knew about the place, and there were the memories that resided there.

Angelina walked by so close that Katie stopped breathing, afraid to give away her spot. Instead, Angelina looked at the blue lilies. The lilies that had once meant so much to her. Angelina bent down and picked something up from the dirt. _Her necklace. _She flipped it over and Katie could see her name gleaming in the sunlight.

An expression crossed over her face that Katie had never seen before. It must have been some kind of anger, jealousy and frustration all combined together. Angelina put the necklace in her pocket and turned around at the sound of his voice.

"I wanted to talk to you."

_This must be it. _He was going to finally confess he was in love with Angelina. She knew he had been dying to do so since summer.

She just couldn't believe that he was doing it _here. _It was _their _place. This was the place where she had opened up to him for the first time. Where she fell in love with him. This was the place where they walked, and he promised it would be just the two of them. It was a promise they made a long time ago, but it still held meaning to her. She could only take from this that he really didn't care for the past anymore. _I'm his past. And he's mine. _

The only difference was that he was her present too.

"Oh. Well you could have said it back at the dorm, or… any time actually. Why did you have to bring me here to say it?"

_Yeah. Why?_

But the truth was, she only had herself to blame. Just days ago, they had been back here and she ran away. Maybe he took that as a sign that she didn't want to be there anymore. _Still, _did that mean it held nothing to him? After all, she didn't mean anything to him either.

"Because… because I'm sure if I should even say it."

_This is not happening._

But the pain she felt inside verified that this very much, was real.

Katie let the leaves obscure her vision before she saw what happened next. But it wasn't necessary, she could already see it happening. She knew it would happen for a while now. This was no surprise.

But it didn't help the hurt and that only intensified as she put a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs.

. . . .

"Oh I'm not sure." Sherry said. "But I think—" She stopped in midsentence as Alicia ran by, crying.

"Alicia!" George reached out to stop her from running past. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She whispered, covering her face and running away from them.

Sherry and George looked at each other with puzzled expressions. "I'm going to go try and talk to her." He said.

"Okay, I hope she's alright." Sherry said.

"So do I." George hastily ran across the common room and up the spiral staircase. He skipped the first three steps on the stairs that branched to the left. Alicia had drawn the curtains around her bed shut and he could hear her crying. "Alicia?" He reached for the red velvet curtains that hung around the bed.

"Go away." She said in a bare whisper. "Please, just go."

He grasped the curtain and pulled it apart. Alicia turned away so that he wouldn't see her eyes, red and puffy. More importantly, she couldn't look into his or she might fall apart all over again.

"Not until you tell me why."

Alicia looked down at the blue carpet. "George…"

"Is there _anything _I can say that will make you tell me?"

She bit her lip. "I—no it's…"

"Is there?"

"You know the answer to that." She whispered.

George put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.

"Yes." She answered, leaning her head on his chest. "But please don't say it."

The sound of those words seared his heart, but he could only imagine what it might compare to her sorrows. He held her closer, tighter, and wished it would bridge the distance between them. If he asked, she would tell. That much was there, but in what way? If he pressed too hard she might break and what good was that? So, because she asked him to, he didn't say it.

. . . .

Angelina walked away and the wall of vines and branches began to weave itself together again, creating a barrier between the two of them that left still coldness in the air.

It was only when Fred saw his hand bleeding that he released his hold on the necklace. _What is this? _For that moment he had really forgotten, until he turned it over and saw Katie's name in the familiar cursive of her writing. His fingers absently traced the letters, numb to all his feelings and unable to decide how he felt.

What had she meant by shoving the necklace in his hand anyways? Katie had never been part of this, but he realized a lot of other people had been dragged into the situation, Lee, Ben, even Alicia and George. But Katie? He stared at the letters again. "It was never about her. It was always you." He said softly as it began to rain.

_It was always about you_. But maybe, it was time to move on. If this was going to hurt so many people then maybe it was better to retreat. Maybe he wasn't able to call everything else to a stop, but he could control himself and that would have to be enough.

From behind him he thought he heard something and turned around. But everything looked the same, the blue lilies with the golden centers that looked like bells, the tall grass bending in the wind, and the leaves weighed down by the droplets of water falling from the sky. His eye caught a small, but sudden movement, a sudden streak of color.

He brushed the tall grass aside and saw no one. He dismissed the thought and from that spot he turned and walked right past her on his way to the castle. Katie wasn't sure if she was glad he didn't see her, or upset that she had been right in front of her and invisible to his eyes.

. . . .

Andrei almost walked right past Katie in his search to find her. Once again, she proved to somehow just mix in with her surroundings well enough not to be seen. Her light brown chestnut colored hair was the same color as the tree behind her. The shadows stretched out and extinguished the usually glowing face. Her will seemed to bend and break just as the blue lilies trying to fight the storm.

He thought he would have felt her presence, but as he watched her bits and pieces of her seemed to be blown away in the wind, leaving a hollow figure embodying only sadness. "Katie?"

She looked up at the sound of his voice. "Andrei?" Her voice cracked and there, was a missing piece of the false image she had implanted in place of her feelings.

"What are you doing here?" He sat down next to her, he had a feeling that she would not leave willingly.

Katie didn't answer his question. "How did you find me?"

"I almost didn't." He said. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Yes." She said. "But I can't."

_Again, with the 'I can't,' what is it that holds her back anyways? _

"Why?"

She stared at the falling rain for a long moment of silence drowned out by the howling of the wind and the beat of the rain. "Because Angelina's my best friend and it's not fair to her if I stand the way."

"She doesn't seem to act like a friend."

"It doesn't matter, she _is _and has been one of my best friends since I came here." Katie said. "But I think I've decided something." She continued, looking down at her shaking hands. Somehow Andrei had the feeling that whatever she decided in this state of mind would not be the best choice, but he didn't say so. "I'm not going to fight anymore. I can't resist when I have paper thin wings."

Somehow hearing this seemed to crush him. Katie, who was always imaginative and had a witty way of finding light humor, was giving up. The difference between who she was today, and the girl who wanted to be a butterfly a week ago. Maybe he would never be able to figure her out completely, but he knew this wasn't the Katie he knew.

"What suddenly made you change your mind?"

He hoped it wasn't him. The way she had quoted his words made him uneasy. Sure, the fact that she didn't want to continue after Fred could have made things easier for Andrei, but not if it made her this upset. He hated to see Katie hurt, and it was easier for him to yield than it was to see her cry.

. . . .

"I can't believe it!" Wendy said, "I seriously can't!"

"Believe what?" Sherry asked, staring out the window at the gloomy gray sky.

She tried to memorize each individual rain drop that streaked the window pane. The thin piece of glass was the only thing that separated her from the outside world and it was hard to tell it was even there. She felt like the same thing was happening to her. The thin piece of glass keeping her from falling apart was starting to crack and break in places. She felt part of herself disappearing.

The scariest part was that she felt relieved. There was too much to try and keep inside, the less there was to deal with the easier it became. It was like a fire, the bigger it was the harder it was to keep it under control and stop it from causing damage. But a candle, just a small glowing flame, could easily be blown out and stowed away in the dark.

"Lee and Kaleigh broke up. I'm not sure if I should be happy for myself, or sad for him. I kind of feel both, but I don't even know how to really approach him."

"Oh." Sherry said, her eyes lowering. The shadows in the empty common room stretched out and she longed for them to reach out just a little more and take her with them. She backed away from the window and curled up in the chair Danny usually sat in. She watched the candle in front of her and pulled it closer.

_Danny. _She couldn't shake the image of him. Even when it included Alicia in the picture. It was hard to blame her when she had been a great friend to her. The only thing holding her back was that she could see that Danny loved her. More than anyone he had been with before, and Alicia genuinely liked him. Maybe not as much as Sherry would have, but she cared about him more than just the cute Quidditch hero and that was a lot.

It was more than she could have asked from most other girls, and if Danny was happy, then she would stand aside for him. She would let him love Alicia. And as long as she loved Danny for more than just face value, then Sherry would leave that alone. Alicia could never love him the way she did, but maybe that was enough.

"So what do you think I should do?" Wendy asked.

Sherry stared ahead at the empty space before her for a moment before turning to face Wendy, with a completely different and false expression. "I think you should wait until tomorrow to see if this is a real break up and then if it is start by just talking to Lee. He's an easy person to get to know."

Wendy smiled dreamily. "Alright, that sounds good."

Sherry reached her hand over the flame and felt the warmth from it on her fingers. She lowered her hand until it barely reached the flame.

"What does? And what happened to Wendy?" Ben asked, sitting across from Sherry.

"Nothing." Sherry answered. She kept her eyes on the candle in front of her and was largely aware that Danny was leaning against the arm of her chair. His presence was causing her nerves to jangle and her thoughts to whirl.

"Are _you _okay?" Danny asked.

The heat radiating from his body was making her feel feverish. "Yeah." She said, smiling. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason, just that you haven't said a single word all day and won't look at anyone." Ben said sarcastically. "Real normal for you."

Sherry turned her head away from him and she unconsciously lowered her hand into the flame of the candle. She gasped and pulled her hand back.

"Are you okay?" Danny and Ben asked in unison.

Sherry nodded. After all, pretending she was okay was one of the only things she could do.

. . . .

"Hey." She hugged him, feeling extremely guilty.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Danny asked, leaning against the railing. He smiled, that familiar smile that had melted her heart. But today it made her feel shaky.

"Oh." _How do I say it? How do you break up with someone? _

"Is something wrong?" He asked, genuinely concerned. That was another thing, he was so sweet and she felt bad for having to do this.

Alicia hesitated. Was this the right time?

"Danny!" Across the corridor a group of his friends were impatient.

"Just a sec!" He called back.

Alicia's heart hammered against her chest. "It's alright, go ahead." She said.

Danny stayed. "You sure?"

"Yeah." Alicia said.

"Alright, I'll see you." She hugged him again, and watched him leave, feeling even worse.

_This is better. _This way she could think about how to say it. The least she could do was be honest and truthful, but she didn't have to tell him all of it. _He deserves better anyways._ She turned to leave and almost walked into Sherry.

"Oh, hi Alicia." Sherry said, without the usual bright cheery tone. "I… um… I wanted to tell you something."

This surprised her. "Oh, well go ahead."

Sherry turned suddenly, so she was fully facing her. "Look, I know about George. And I'm not blaming you, or judging you. I just wanted to say that Danny's my best friend and what you're doing, it's going to hurt him. I don't want to ever see him hurt, it's happened too many times. Just… make sure that whatever you do, don't go back and change it. If you leave, then don't change your mind, it just makes things harder. And if you stay, make sure it's because you want to."

Alicia had never seen Sherry like this. Her tone wasn't light hearted any more, she was serious. She was protecting Danny and there was a fierce edge to her words.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone." Alicia said. It was the truth.

Sherry didn't say anything, she seemed to be fighting herself. Alicia saw that behind that armor she put on there was something underneath that was hiding. Maybe she wasn't just protecting Danny. Perhaps she was trying to reassure herself too. "Just… be careful. He's all I have." And then, feeling like she said all she needed to and too much more, she turned and left.

_So now I'm hurting three people. George, Danny, and Sherry. _

Alicia leaned against the corridor wall and dissolved into tears.

_**You might not have picked it up, but this chapter did have a sort of motif. The sections didn't end with the same words, since I think that makes it too obvious, but if you didn't notice, this chapter's motif is that the guys are holding back. **_

_**And just so you know, it's after the hardest and saddest chapter for the characters that things can get better. And I personally think that when things aren't all perfect and fine it's more interesting.**_

_**Anyways, for those who do, don't forget to R E V I E W ^^  
**_


	20. Daggers to My Heart

The Truth About Love- Chapter 20

_**Thanks to the awesome people who reviewed: , XxrandomxX, weasley's second daughter, Cam, and qaz22. Missed you Kaleigh! I love reading yours :)**_

_**Anyways so last chapter was sorta depressing. I'll admit that, but I think it's fair to say this chapter was better. The first flashback is sad, but the section in itself ends not-too-depressingly. Second section is sad... since well um it's not the end and so I'm going to continue the drama, nothing ends yet. Third section is... well you can interpret it as sad or hopeful... whatever you want. Anyways... just keep reading.  
**_

"_Come on, don't be scared." He put his arm around her and steered her over to the jutting cliff, where he stood, admiring the view._

_She looked timidly over the cragged cliff. Waves crashed and rolled against the sharp rocks. It was a long way to fall. She rested her head on his shoulder. She meant that in more ways than one. What would happen after this summer? What would they be after this summer?_

_She pulled away. It wasn't so much the height of the cliff anymore. "I'm scared." She said, backing away._

"_Don't worry, if you fall I'll save you."_

_A smarter girl might have replied with a tart comment and left it at that, but she didn't. Maybe she was too naïve to see that it didn't matter anyways. Or maybe she wanted to believe in the possible double meaning of his words._

_She stood next to him, with his arm around her, and her head resting on his shoulder. Someone could easily have mistaken them for boyfriend and girlfriend. That was fine with her, and he didn't care what others thought, but there was always that regret they would never be anything like that. They were best friends, a simple girl who looked up to the much braver and smarter boy._

_And that was alright, she told herself. She had more of him than most girls could ever hope for. _

_But at the end of summer, would he be swept up in the whirlwind of exams, classes, and other friends? Would he outgrow her? Would he still put up with her childish fears and explore the Forbidden Forest with her? Would she see enough of him to be her everything?_

_She looked up at him, at the familiar face she had known for so long. He looked different now. His features were so defined and flawless. His lips weren't formed in his trademark smirk. His eyes weren't lit up and full of laughter, they were deep and reflective. She wished she knew what he was thinking of, but it became harder to uncover with each passing day. _

_Beyond the emotional differences she was also finding physical changes. He had grown at least a foot over the summer, which only increased the height difference between them since she had always been short. And she hardly missed the fact that instead of being gangly he was now tall, and lean-but-muscular in a way the other girls on the beach were quick to note. _

_Standing next to him she felt small and insignificant. Compared to her was she anything special? _

_He didn't say anything as they watched the sun sink under the horizon. The flaming red of the sun was reflected in his eyes and glittered on the lightly dimpled ocean. She wished he would say something. That was another new thing for him. He could stand in place, staring at a far off spot in the distance, perfectly still, just thinking. She watched him do this and found it impossible to even begin wondering what was on his mind._

_The silence would once been comfortable and filled in by unsaid thoughts, but something was blocking the thoughts. She stood there, wishing for that barrier to break down and let her in so she could tell him her thoughts too. But the more she remained rooted to the spot, the rest of the world revolving at its usual pace, she wondered if he would even listen. _

"_If I fell off the cliff, right now, would you really save me?" _

_He turned to face her. "Of course I would." _

"_Do you…" She stopped herself. "Never mind."_

_It was hard to tell if he heard or not. She let out an audible sigh and looked down at the water, its surface sparkling a beautiful orange red color. But it wasn't the guise it wore on the surface that pertained to the depth of the water, the pull of the powerful currents, or the lurking dangers within. In the same way she realized people were like that. You could spend time with a person thinking you knew them, but one day you look at them and realize you haven't even skimmed the surface._

_The next moments went by so fast it was hard to recall the sequence or substance of the events, but like lightning she caught flashes of light and then darkness, remembered images of absolute clarity and then blurry cadences. What she did have, was hard for her to live through again._

_There was the feeling of falling, for a moment it was just being suspended in mid air, wind rushing through her hair._

_There was the impact of landing against a thick pane of glass, which seemed to break her body before shattering and sending shards of ice piercing her skin._

_There was the moment she thought she might die, and accepted it._

_The water rushed in through her nose and mouth, filling her lungs with bits and pieces of ice and glass, the temperature of which had long since numbed her skin and turned her raw inside._

_There was the slow feeling of sinking beneath the beautiful glittering surface of the perilous sea._

_There was a window where she welcomed the prospect of death. _

_And then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her above the surface. He fought the current to the beach, where he lay her down, breathing heavily._

"_What the hell were you thinking?" _

_She didn't reply, didn't even cough up the salt water half choking her. She was blinded by the tears flooding down her cheeks. _

Katie's eyes snapped open and she gasped for air. The feeling of water weighing her body down and forcing her breath away gripped her body and she couldn't breathe. Then a figure crossed her vision and suddenly it was next to her. She tried to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.

"Relax, it's me." Fred put his hand down and regarded her with concern. "Are you okay?"

Katie pulled the blanket around her, shivering, and nodded. "What are you doing in my dorm at four in the morning?" Outside the window it was still dark.

Fred sat down on the bed next to her and hesitated. He took in the small and helpless looking girl watching him with fear and sadness in her wide eyes. "I wanted to show you something."

"Where?"

He managed a wry smile. "Forbidden Forest."

It really wasn't the same anymore, but time spent alone with him was hard to find. Katie threw the covers, put on her shoes and zipped up two sweatshirts. "Let's go."

The two of them made their way out of the castle, silent as the shadows, and made their way across the school grounds. Instead of taking the familiar paths to all the secret places they had discovered, he led her down a steep trail through brambles, over boulders, between narrowly spaced trees, and down obscure paths winding not toward the heart of the forest, but to part of the forest they had not yet explored together.

It was a long walk and by the time they stopped the first rays of light were already visible. Katie tried to remember every twist and turn they took so she could come back if she wanted to, but by the time they emerged from the mouth of a cave she could not even remember how to access the entrance. She found herself standing on the edge of a deep ravine, from below which ran a fast-moving river and ahead, loomed the great mountains, topped with snow.

After taking in the scenery she felt a chill go through her body, unpertaining to the weather. The scene was similar to that of the worst memory she could recall. She hugged herself and focused on watching her breath evaporate in white clouds.

"Where are we?" She asked, rolling up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. It was her sister's and too long.

"I started coming here a lot last year. It's just a place I like to come and think. You can watch the sunrise from here, and I thought you might want to see it."

Katie swallowed hard. Hadn't he said almost the same exact words that day? "It's very… quiet here." She wondered if he had lost the ability to read her the way she couldn't understand half the things he said or did anymore. Would the complexity of the person he became obscure her from him? "It'll be nice to watch the sunrise."

The two of them sat at the edge of the ravine in sort-of companionable silence.

"What are you thinking?" He finally broke the quiet that stretched between them.

"Nothing." Both of them knew it was far from the truth.

"I'll tell you what I'm thinking."

"That would be a nice change." Somehow she managed to make herself sound normal. She knew she could, it just took so much effort.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Katie moved her head from his shoulder to look him in the eye. "Things have changed, a lot of things have changed."

Something in his eyes changed and she saw the change in him take place again. "I know. It's kind of bothering me how much _I _changed."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing. There's a pivotal point in life where everyone changes and becomes their own person."

"I know." This time she caught regret in his tone. "I just don't want to leave you behind."

_He doesn't mean it like that_. She knew what he meant. "You're not leaving me behind, we're still best friends. You're still you and I'm still me."

"Of course, I just wanted you to know that I don't care what happens, we're still us." And by that she knew he meant, they were still wavering in the space between the lines, never able to define what they were because he went in one direction and she left her heart in the other.

"Good." The truth was, no matter how much she wished they were more, knowing that she hadn't lost what she had gave her comfort. And she already had more of him than anyone could hope for. What he said only made it real, crystallized their bond. _So, _she decided, _I'll have to live with this._

_Because without him I can't remember who I am._

. . . .

Ben crossed the narrow corridor to the library with his essay in hand, eyes quickly reading the sentences. He was so intent on trying to figure out the missing part of his last paragraph he almost ran someone over.

"Sorry!" Taryn and Ben said at the same time. The two of them looked at eachother for an awkward moment and then tried to sidestep the other, only to end up in the way again. Finally Taryn put her hands on his arm to stop him and then spun around to leave.

"Wait, Taryn?"

She stopped and turned around slowly. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Taryn hesitated, but one look at those amazingly blue eyes and she couldn't help it anymore. "Okay, but not here."

Without thinking about it, she grabbed his hand and they went through a corridor that led to a dead end. A staircase emerged from the ceiling and they ascended the spiral stairs which seemed to go on forever until they reached the rooftop of the Hufflepuff tower. The cool night air caressed her skin and played her hair. She turned to face Ben.

"You can tell me now." There was something about the place that made it easier for her to think and speak. This way no matter what he said, she would be able to pretend it was all okay. It was a necessary precaution.

Ben regarded her with his startlingly blue eyes, which sent bolts of electricity up her spine. She managed to lock eyes with him, and studied his face. His pale skin and chiseled features were aglow in the moonlight and his eyes studied hers. She watched and tried to understand the thoughts that were swimming through the abyss behind the twin windows to his soul. Was he thinking about what could have been? Were memories of their two years together rushing by with a blurred clarity but the emotions so real that he could feel the same aching sadness of never being able to experience it again?

"What happened?" He said suddenly, tearing his gaze away from hers. "What happened that day?"

Taryn sighed. She supposed that at some point everything had to come back to where it started. Or where it ended. In a way that's where it starts. "I don't know, Ben." She said softly. "You tell me."

His eyes clouded over, and she was unable to tell what he was thinking anymore. She knew everything about him, she could decode his thoughts and understand all his actions. Up to that point. Suddenly she didn't know anything anymore and this unfamiliarity startled her. But there was always that part of her that wished to believe in far-fetched hope. Maybe _this _was the point where it would stop having to be so anonymous.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever, and she wondered if he thought the same about her. Could he still understand her unspoken thoughts as if said aloud?

"Was… was that all you wanted to ask me?"

Ben shook his head. His black hair fell over his eyes and he gripped the railing hard. Was he deciding to tell her the truth or not? Were his thoughts whirring in his head too fast to pull apart? "No." He said finally, in a voice that reigned defeat. "There are so many more things I want to ask you. But I realized that I'd never get to ask you all of them."

Taryn tried to breathe, but it was too much. He was right. She would never get to ask him all the questions she wanted to and never tell him half the things she wanted to. "I don't know what your side of the story is, but I know what I saw."

"And what did—?"

"No." She bit her quivering lip and steadied her shaking hands. "Please. I don't want to think about it anymore."

He pressed on. "I _need _to know. What did you see?"

A teardrop fell onto the metal railing and she squeezed her eyes shut to block the rest, but there were only so many things she could stop from flooding.

_He was lying across the rocks, down in the ravine where he liked to just be alone and think things through. _

"_Hey, you." She smiled as if they were sharing a secret, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, there it changed to a smirk. _

_Ben took off his iPod earbuds and set it aside. "Hey Julie." He propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at the cloudless sky, which was a nice shade of blue, but much lighter and not as deep as the blue of his eyes._

"_What are you thinking about?"_

_He shrugged. "Nothing."_

"_Oh come on. You come here to think, there's no way you're thinking about nothing." She said, putting her hands behind her back as if she were hiding something and giving him another sweet but smug smile. She leaned forward and put her hands on his shoulders. "You can tell me. It's about her isn't it?"_

"_No, it's not." He didn't tell her to get off, or shrug her away._

"_I know you've been rethinking your relationship, you told me that much." She sat down next to him, there was no space between them._

_He didn't answer that. Maybe he was too polite to say that she was wrong and to leave him alone. Maybe he didn't want to deny it._

"_Well you know, when you make up your mind, I'll be here. And maybe I'm more than she could ever be. I know you're complex, sometimes you like your space to think, and sometimes all you want is someone to be close to. I can understand that. I'm the same. She's not. And Taryn is a nice person and she's a great friend, but she doesn't understand you. And you've never been with someone who does. You won't know unless you give me a chance."_

"_Jules—"_

_She cut him off by kissing him. Short, and to the point. She pulled away a mere second later, just before Ben pushed her away. "You know where to find me." _

"I just want you to know." Ben said. "I didn't mean it. What she said might have been true, but I could never be with Julie. She's not you. And she was wrong, she's not like me either. I would never have done that."

"Okay." Taryn said, forcing herself to speak.

"Do you believe me?" Ben asked, his voice soft, almost pleading.

Taryn swallowed back her tears and doubts. This was Ben, even if things were different, she still knew him better than the others. "I believe you. It's not your fault you needed more than I can give. It's okay."

Ben reached out to put his hand on her shoulder but she turned and left.

"No, it's not okay." He said softly. He listened to the sound of her footsteps as she ran down the spiral staircase and wished so badly that he could run after her.

. . . .

Alicia stood at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the wall, wishing she could take back what she said. _Do I have to do this?_

The black glass wall shimmered as the candles in the chandelier above her flickered, causing the light reflected through the crystals to bounce in different directions.

She looked at her reflection. There she stood, her the beads on her blue ballet flats glittering, her pale and flawless skin, smooth as vanilla ice cream glowing, the golden curls cascading down her shoulders shining lustrously. Her perfectly sculpted legs, long and lean, were sheathed in dark washed jeans. On her thin wrist were several silver bracelets with wave like patterns which were in set with the necklace looped twice around her neck that elongated her figure. The blue ruffled shirt she wore brought out the beautiful blue-green of her eyes.

But the image of perfection and beauty stopped there. If someone had studied her reflection, which was standing still, they would have noticed that for one thing she wasn't smiling. When the candles flickered again shadows could be seen beneath her eyes and under her cheekbones, hallowing out her face. Then came her eyes, like sea glass, beautiful but easy to shatter.

_Stop it. There's nothing you can do._

Maybe on the outside all the pieces fit together and made for a pretty reflection, but that didn't change anything.

A mirror can't show you the dying heart inside.

"Hey, you seemed so upset earlier, do you want to talk?" Danny appeared next to her in the black glass.

Alicia turned and embraced him, resting her head on his chest and locking her arms.

"What's wrong?" He put his arms around her and held her tightly.

She didn't want him to let go, it was so easy to let it all go for another day before the cycle came back to the beginning and the guilt, sorrow, and indecision weighed down on her again. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she knew that she had to do it now, even if it broke her heart to hurt him. Sherry wasn't the only person protecting him, Alicia wanted to protect him too. From her.

Alicia swallowed back her tears and lifted her head. Upon seeing the look in her eyes Danny let go, his arms falling to his sides.

It was hard to tell if he knew already or not. Alicia took a deep breath. "Danny… there's something I… I've been meaning to—no, no, not that." She sighed in frustration. Some things were too difficult to put in word and considered giving up and sticking with _it's not you, it's me. _But then she thought of Sherry and the look of fear in her eyes because she couldn't protect Danny against a force she couldn't see. And that gave her the reason to keep going.

"Danny, you're an amazing person and I love spending time with you, and it was great to be with you. But this can't go on. And I think we both knew that from the start." At this Danny looked confused. "We have a lot of chemistry, but there wasn't the spark of knowing that this was it. The truth is that I… I can't go on with this. This isn't fair to you, if I keep breaking you slowly by pretending."

She thought she might be relieved to have the words out and over with, but she kept wishing she could take it back. She watched him, wishing that he would say something. Anything would have been better than the silence that stretched between them. It would have made her feel better to know he was angry, than hurt.

"I'm sorry." She said, her voice shaking. "Danny… I didn't mean for this to happen. I really do like you, but it wouldn't have worked out between us."

"It's okay." Danny said, fixing her with his warm brown eyes. Alicia could see that he was hurt, but wasn't going to say so. He was trying to keep her from being upset, but it only made her feel worse that even though she had just send daggers at his heart he was shielding her in the only way he could.

She felt like crying, but Alicia held herself together. "I'm sorry." It was the only thing she could say. "And… there's someone out there better than me, in fact, I _know _there is. She's been right before your eyes the whole time."

Alicia left him with something she hoped to distract him from the pain.

_**It has a depressing tag line (ha, theater term for anyone whose been in drama) but overall it wasn't too bad was it?**_

_**Oh well, like it, love it, hate it, whatever... just REVIEW. **_


	21. Heart and Soul

The Truth About Love- Chapter 21

_**Sorry I haven't updated!! But with homework and moving it's all been sorta crazy. Anyways, thanks Kaleigh, qaz22, Madeleine421, and XxrandomxX for reviews. ^^ And thanks for putting me and favorites Madeleine :)**_

_**This chapter is kinda short... and a bit of a cursory job at the end, but I really needed to update and I promise next chapter will be better.  
**_

"They're back together." Sherry observed.

"Yeah, it happened last night." Wendy said, slightly regretfully.

"Sorry Wen." Danny said.

She made a face. "He was being a lovesick idiot and wouldn't talk about anything except Kaleigh, so I figured it would just be best if they were back together. But apparently that wasn't the only drama last night. Why didn't you tell us that you and Alicia broke up?"

Sherry dropped her fork. "Wait, what?"

Danny shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"It isn't?" Sherry was doubtful. Ben and Wendy hastily started a conversation with a confused first year next to them.

"She was honest, and it was a clean break. It's alright." Sherry's eyes searched his, but she already knew this was the truth. He was an honest person, save for exceptional white lies, but she _knew _he would never lie about something big like this.

"Okay." Sherry finally said. "That's good." She squeezed his hand and then quickly recoiled, nervously pushing a lock of strawberry blond hair away. Sherry blushed and was glad when Ben and Wendy restarted conversation.

. . . .

Angelina stood in the shadow of a large tree and stared at the iron gate of the courtyard. She took a deep breath and pushed it open.

Ben was standing with his back facing her, and didn't hear her enter. Angelina took everything in, the light breeze that seemed to come from different directions, playing with their hair, causing the bell flowers to ring sweetly and blowing her words away—they weren't good enough. The sky was surprisingly clear, for mid December and there wasn't a single cloud obscuring the pale blue blanket. Feeble sunlight made its way down to make an attempt at light.

She gripped the bars of the iron gate until her fingers turned white.

_What's wrong with me? _

Ben was perfect. _He _is _perfect. _

She watched him. The cool breezes were playing with his dark hair and making it so she could see his amazingly blue eyes that always sent electricity down her spine. His pale and chiseled features were flawless, as usual. His hands were in the pockets of his dark washed jeans and the navy blue long sleeved shirt he wore made his eyes stand out. He was standing in place, unmoving as the wind tousled his hair and whispered in his ear.

There was an expression of deep contemplation that graced his immaculate features. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, something was blocking her from entering and for the moment she was glad for that. He looked statuesque, pale chiseled features, casual perfection, and unmoving elegance.

"I can't do this." She whispered softly, meaning for it to be her parting statement. But the wind carried it away as if she had never spoken. _Not good enough. _

Angelina steeled herself.

"Ben, there's something I need to say." She said.

That was it. No hug, no greeting, just to the point. It felt too cold, and she wanted to take it back, but it was too late for that.

"Okay, go ahead." Ben said. He redirected his gaze.

"I… I don't know how I'm going to say this. This isn't the justice you deserve. I can't do this anymore. It's been—I just— From the beginning, this wasn't it." Her fragments of sentences seemed to fly like bits of broken glass towards Ben only to be blown back to her. Hurt bled from the wounds. "And I…" Angelina struggled for words.

"It's okay." Ben said softy. "I understand."

Angelina shook her head. "No, you don't. Ben, I do love you, you're amazing, you're _perfect_, just not for me. I'm in love with Fred."

Everything became still. The wind seemed to stop blowing, the sun appeared to pause in mid-glow, and the world felt like it stopped spinning. But with all her words and feelings building up, there was no taking back what she said.

"Ben, I'm _so _sorry but I—"

"No, don't be sorry." Ben said. "You're not the only one at fault. Taryn and I… If not today, this would have happened sooner or later. Don't blame yourself."

"You don't get it." Angelina said miserably, she _was _to blame. "I kissed him."

"I'm not standing in your way anymore." Ben said simply. "I'm sorry I made it harder for you."

There was no end to the guilt she was feeling, but she couldn't come up with the right words until he was gone.

. . . .

Katie stood on the edge of the ravine, the wind caressing her body, the sunlight illuminating her face. Her thoughts were swirling around like the playful currents of the wind. Her mind was far from relaxed, but in this place where the space was so large and occupied by only her, everything seemed so much smaller, less important, and she didn't have to worry.

Eyes closed, she was standing on the edge of the cliff, unafraid of the long fall to the bottom or how standing there might provoke unwanted memories. No, it didn't matter there. Those memories were a part of her, they embodied her heart and soul. Here, she could let it all out and instead of weighing her down, the memories flitted in and out, brushing her consciousness like butterfly wings.

With all her memories released to the wind, her secrets whispered to the trees, and all her worries washed away in the river, she was finally at peace. Her body felt light, and if she spread out her arms she felt like she might fly. Fly above all that was happening around her so she might be a spectator watching the world turn. It was much easier to live her life as an outside observer looking in, and for the moment that was possible.

"Hey."

She didn't have to open her eyes to know it was Andrei. She didn't have to ask how he knew where to find her, it just seemed to happen. There was no need to ask what she was thinking about, they both knew.

"Hey." She said, her voice sounding small in the open forest.

Andrei regarded her with his warm golden brown eyes. "You're still thinking about it."

Katie opened her eyes. "Yes."

There was a moment of silence that stretched between them. Katie could tell he wanted to say something. The question was if she wanted to know or not. Normally she might have hesitated, but here, nothing seemed to hurt her. He could say anything he wanted.

"There's something you want to say."

Andrei breathed in slowly. "Yeah." _But you don't want to hear it. _She could feel the unspoken words that followed his answer.

"Say it."

"Why?"

Katie poked his side. "Because I want to know what you're thinking, silly."

"No, I mean _why_?"

"Oh." Her hands dropped to her side, all signs of playfulness gone as soon as it had come.

"I'm sorry." Andrei said softly. "I didn't mean to make you upset, I just—"

Katie put her hand on his arm to stop him. "No, it's okay. Sometimes I ask myself that a lot. Why don't I just give up? Or why don't I tell him?"

Andrei listened.

"Well I spent a lot of time thinking about this." She took a deep breath. "I know what will happen if I tell him. We're more than friends, that's true, but not the way I wanted to be." Andrei started to interrupt, but she rushed through. "_Wanted. _It's not like that anymore. I've accepted that it is what it is and I'm not going to try and change it.

"And as for giving up, I guess I've done that. I'm not going to try and make us more than what we are. I guess I wasn't thinking before, or I would have realized that he does love me, and maybe not the way I thought I wanted, but I wouldn't have it any other way. He's still Fred and I'm still Katie, if I were to make us more we wouldn't be ourselves anymore."

Andrei furrowed his brow, trying to understand what she just said.

Katie watched him and tilted her head. "You don't understand."

"No… not really." _But I want to._

It was as if she heard his unspoken thought. "There's a saying 'if you love something let it go; if it comes back to you then it's yours, and if not then it never belonged to you.'"

He had never heard it before, but it was just like Katie to analyze some obscure saying. Katie absently picked a blue flower and twirled the stem in her fingers.

After a moment of silence she continued. "I guess it fits, that if you love someone let them go." She opened her hand and the flower flew off into the air. "If they come back to you then they love you. If not, then maybe it's just not meant to be."

Both of them watched the playful wind currents blow the flower in a circle and twirl it around before a cool breeze sent it sailing back to Katie. She let her hand drop to her side and the flower brushed past her cheek before falling in her hand. She looked at it, unsure of what to do, or what it possibly meant.

Andrei took the flower from her fingers and put it in her hair.

The sudden familiar movement didn't send her spine tingling or her eyes stinging like she thought it might.

She managed a smile. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

. . . .

Alicia entered the common room just as George stepped down from the stairs, looking for a specific page in _Advanced Potion-Making. _

"George!"

"Hey Alicia--" He dropped his book and essay. Alicia had run across the common room and thrown her arms around him. "What was that for?" He asked, blinking.

Alicia giggled. "Come on, I want to show you something." She grabbed his hand and leaving his half-finished essay on the common room floor, they ran out.

"Where are we going again?" George asked as they turned from the staircases.

"Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you that maybe I'd show you my secret passage?" Alicia asked, as they went down an abandoned corridor. It was past nine so they were taking routes the professors were less likely to be patrolling.

"Yes."

Alicia turned and walked down a sloped passage. "Well I'm showing it to you now."

"I thought I was supposed to tell you a secret first."

_You already did. _"I changed my mind." Alicia answered, checking to see that no one was there before walking down the stairs and across an open corridor.

"Um, Alicia this is a broom closet." George said when they stopped.

"I know." She said, throwing the door open. The two of them squeezed into the small space. Alicia put her hand on the wall. "_Ascendio."_

Like an elevator, the stone-tiled floor they stood on rapidly rose.

"Hm, I definitely missed this one." George said nonchalantly, despite the limited and near unexistent space between them.

"It's not the only one." Alicia said, as the floor came to a halt.

The wall behind her gave way to shadow. Unthinkingly, they ventured into the passage. Surprisingly, there were no twists or turns to the tunnel and the two of them walked in step, allowing the companionable silence to speak for itself. After a short distance they emerged from the passage, which seemed to materialize into thin air.

"Where are we?" George asked.

Alicia smiled and walked to the edge. "Guess."

George leaned dangerously forward. They were on the platform that stretched between the North tower and the Ravenclaw tower, overlooking the whole Hogwarts campus including the lake, courtyard, and Forbidden Forest. From that vantage point the entire Forest could be seen, all the way to the very edge, which seemed to blend right into the trees of the snow-topped mountains. Beyond that, the ocean shimmered before them.

"This is where I come when I need to get away from everything."

"Were you here… I mean the other day when we were on the Astronomy tower, I thought I saw a shadow."

Alicia nodded. "Yeah."

"What were you thinking about?"

Alicia swayed on the spot. "I can't remember."

"Liar." He said softly.

For some reason this surprised her, even though she already knew that it was lie. Usually he didn't pressure for answers and even if he knew she was lying didn't point it out. It made her wonder if he could somehow read her mind. It was conceivable, she wasn't sure if there was anyone who really knew her better than he did. The whole thing didn't seem fair though, that he subconsciously picked up her thoughts but she couldn't read him anymore.

Alicia sighed. "Okay. You're right. Now what?"

George shrugged. She wondered if it was an I-really-don't-care shrug, or I-wish-you'd-tell-me-the-truth-but-I-can't-make you shrug.

"Do you really want the truth?"

George stared at the night sky. "I don't know. Lies can hurt."

"But the truth can hurt more." They finished together.

Alicia studied his face and wondered if she could really let herself tell him the wholehearted truth. Did she want to? _Yes. _Was she afraid? _Yes. _Why, she had no clue. Hadn't he already confessed his feelings? Perhaps out of anguish, but he didn't seem burdened by it anymore. So maybe if she told him, just maybe things might get better.

"So, I guess it's either live a lie or live in denial." Alicia said.

George fixed her green-blue eyes with his hazel. "It doesn't have to be that way."

It felt like for the longest time they stared into each other's eyes and tried to express all the unspoken thoughts they couldn't find the voice to say or put into words. Did he wish they'd stop speaking in single word sentences and riddles? Was last week's conversation still fresh in his mind? Would a single word change their whole relationship? And change… was that good or bad?

All these questions were driving Alicia crazy, and her heart was speeding up; it all came to this.

He leaned forward.

She stopped breathing.

Was this it?

He tore his gaze away.

_**Hey, happy endings are for the END right?**_

_**Anyways, I've actually been planning that Katie scene since.... like the very first chapter I knew I wanted to put it in :D**_

_**So... um don't hate me for the end because they're going to kiss eventually... we all know that.**_

_**And I know this wasn't the best chapter, but it'd be nice if you'd still review :D  
**_


	22. Cease To Be

The Truth About Love- Chapter 22

_**Thanks for the reviews from XxrandomxX, Madeleine421, weasley's second daughter, Vero, PottedLilies, qaz22, purple, and LayRay :)**_

Angelina stopped and hid behind a bookshelf.

"Okay, I think I've had enough of this for one night." Fred closed his book. "Are you sure you don't want to stop now?"

"I can't, I have a test on this tomorrow." Katie said, flipping the page.

Fred looked at her with concern. "Don't you think you're kind of overworking yourself?"

Katie shook her head so that her bangs fell out of place. Fred reached across the table and tucked them behind her ear. Katie let out a barely audible gasp and straightened, pulling herself away. "I'm fine." Katie said a bit too abruptly, flattening her bangs. Her shaking fingers flipped the page—she had not even finished reading it.

"Okay." Fred took the book and his unfinished essay. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He hesitated, as if unwilling to leave her alone. Anyone could see that behind the towers of books and stacks of notes that she was overstressed and there was a haunted look behind her eyes, as if she was not really starting to unwind.

"See you." Katie's fingers tightened and she almost tore the page, as she hastily flipped it again.

Angelina leaned against the bookcase and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make sense of what she had just seen.

. . . .

Taryn closed her eyes, letting the night air rush past her. She gripped the railing with her hand and breathed in the ocean breeze, tasting the salt in the air. She stood there, waiting for herself to stop thinking about him. It wasn't until she opened her eyes a minute later that she realized it wasn't the salt of the ocean breeze she thought she could taste, it was the silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

She sighed, hating herself.

_It's all my fault. Julie was right, I'm just not right for him. _

She only wished it hadn't taken so long for her to realize the truth. Maybe then she wouldn't still be thinking about him. She didn't regret their relationship at all, she only regretted what could have been and now lay forgotten. Sometimes it was hard to think about their nights lying under the stars, the sunrises they watched on the roof of his house, and the security she felt when she was with him.

Sometimes it hurt to remember what it was like before, and she wished it never happened. But then she realized that without the memories, she wouldn't have known true happiness. And she would never trade that away despite the bitter ending that followed.

A teardrop fell.

Followed by footsteps.

"Hey, I thought I'd find you here." Ben said.

"Here I am." Taryn said quietly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright."

Ben gently turned her chin so that she faced him. "What's wrong?" He gently brushed away the tears on her cheeks.

"Nothing." Taryn whispered, afraid if she spoke all the wrong words would come rushing out.

Ben held her gaze with his deep blue eyes. "It's not nothing." He said softly. He could still understand her, unlike the way she lost the ability to know what he was thinking and how he was feeling.

Taryn turned and walked a few steps away. Ben took her hand and gently pulled her back and then wrapped his arms around her. She held on tightly and remembered how this was the way he used to hold her. She remembered being in his arms and how it made her feel so secure, just like it did again now. "I miss you." She said, burying her face in his chest.

"Yeah, I miss you too." Ben said.

They held onto each other, clinging to what was left of the past and wishing back what they had lost. For the first time Taryn found herself able to face the facts and realize that what had happened had to happen for a reason, but that didn't mean it was her fault. No one had to be wrong for things to fall apart. Sometimes the time isn't right, or other things can influence relationships, but in the end all that mattered was their love. Was it still there?

"That other day we were here… I wanted to go after you, I _should _have gone after you. But Angelina was… I'm such a coward, I'm sorry."

Taryn shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. I don't think it was anyone's. Sometimes things just don't work out, and I'm sorry that I didn't understand that before. I do now. And I…" Here, she thought her voice might fail her, might betray the truth, but she thought again and steeled herself. "I can handle the truth. Whatever it is that _you _think and what _you _want. That's all I need to know. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want and if—"

"No." Ben looked into her eyes, his deep blue eyes electrified. "I _need _you to know that what happened that day… it was an accident. I know what it looked like. What it seemed like."

Taryn bit her lip. "You said that—"

"I didn't mean it. I'd take it all back if I had the chance."

She lowered her eyes, unable to really look at him. The blue of his eyes burned in the back of her mind. His eyes, which had been the first thing she noticed. Darker blue than the sky, bluer than the blue-green of the ocean, and deeper, past the limit of its abyss.

"Just listen, _please_." His voice was soft, and almost pleading. If he stopped to think, he would realize this was unnecessary. Ben was a good person, genuine and considerate, putting people he cared before himself. She knew he wouldn't lie about something like this and she really did believe him, it was just too much to take in all at once.

"Ben, I believe you. Really, I do. But what do you want from me? Whatever it is, just say it. If you want me to leave, fine, I'll leave it all behind. All I know is that once you've committed yourself with your heart and soul there's no halfway point. I'll go or I'll stay."

Ben sighed.

She wasn't making this easy.

Well neither was he.

"Taryn… Taryn, look at me."

She took a deep breath in. Then she looked into his eyes and was completely taken back. Whatever she felt he had been holding back, all that was buried deep under the surface to never come up again, everything lost in the connections long since severed was there in his eyes. Someone had once said a person's eyes were windows to their soul, and at that moment, Taryn believed it.

It was difficult to explain, but she saw everything. There was sadness, guilt, regret, and nostalgia, all brought onto a whole new level. Right then and there, she saw proof on his eyes that maybe she was right—no one was at fault—and wanted to lose herself, let everything fall into empty space and start all over. The pain and hurt that he felt, it was tangible to her, it was something they shared, and something he expressed through unspoken _feeling_.

"After what I did I can't ask you for anything. It doesn't matter how much I wish I could take it back, the fact remains that I can't, what I did can't be undone and time won't rewind. All I want to say is that if I had a second chance I would have told you how I felt. And since I have this chance I won't make the same mistake. The truth is that I don't think I could ever love anyone but you."

Taryn's eyes widened with surprise. "Really?"

"Really. I just don't know if—"

He didn't finish because at that moment Taryn threw her arms around him and kissed him, finally sparking the memories that lay forgotten, canceling all need for words.

. . . .

"And you didn't tell me?!" Angelina yelled.

Alicia bit the tail off of a gummy dragon. "Uh, sort of."

"What? WHY?!" Angelina demanded.

"Well, let's see," Alicia said sarcastically. "Maybe it was because you would have freaked out and ruined everything for both you and Katie."

Angelina paced the room, fuming mad. "So when were you going to tell me this?!"

"Um, never, actually. It's not for me to tell." Alicia said. "Gummy?"

Angelina looked murderous. "Well she lied. Every time we asked about her she said no one and then when she got all depressed she said it was nothing."

"Need I remind you that you happened to use Lee and Ben for your selfish own good? That's a lot of duplicity right there."

"So what do you expect me to do now?" Angelina snapped.

"Well that depends, are you going to do the right or wrong thing? And do you care about Katie or not?"

Angelina stopped and sat down on her bed. "Something tells me this isn't going to be easy."

"Doing the right thing never is." Alicia said. "But that's what Katie's doing."

. . . .

Stepping over the first three steps, Fred took the stairs two at a time and then entered Katie's dorm. All the girls in her dorm were downstairs studying, except for Katie. She had been on her bed taking notes in her History of Magic textbook, but fallen asleep. When Fred entered the room she sat up with a bewildered expression. Bangs flying, she hurriedly flipped her book to the page she was on.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it!" Katie ran her fingers through her bangs and then put in a clip that had fallen out. "What time is it?"

"One twenty." Fred answered, sitting next to her.

Katie groaned. "Oh my god." Her head rested on his shoulder. "Oh my god!" She immediately straightened, when she realized what she did. Her heart raced nervously. "I am in so much trouble…" She ran her fingers through her hair and got off the bed. She could feel her face burning.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said hastily. "I mean—gosh I'm stupid—I have a test tomorrow, that's all." Katie turned so that she faced away from him, and then realizing that this was awkward, turned around again.

Fred looked at her with concern. "You're okay right?"

"Fine." She said slightly out of breath.

"You sure?"

"Fine." She repeated. _Actually no, because I'm being a horrible person right now._

"Okay, because I wanted to talk."

Katie felt her insides freeze. She breathed in with difficulty. "Okay. About what?"

"I don't know. I want to hear what you have to say. Something's going on and I'm not leaving until you tell me. You're hurting, and I can't stand it."

Katie closed her book and hugged it to her chest.

_I could tell him the truth._

_But what _is _the truth?_

"Tell me the truth."

A tear ran down her cheek.

"Katie?"

"I don't know what it is anymore, that's the truth."

"I don't understand."

She turned her face away, tendrils of hair blocking the curtain of tears. "No, you wouldn't."

"I want to. Tell me."

Katie's hand covered her mouth to suppress her sobs and she shook her head. _No. _How could she explain the truth? It was too complicated, she was too naïve, and why did he have to try so hard to understand? There was too much of everything and not enough of anything.

It was too hard to explain the truth; that when she was headed for the cliff and free falling, she realized maybe it was easier just to be at the bottom. That maybe she it wasn't so much loving him that hurt, or not receiving it in return, it was the fact that one day they would cease to be one and the same and it had come. And maybe she just didn't want to see it happen and would rather live her life a lie than face the truth.

This was the point that she realized he hadn't saved her from anything, because who can save you from yourself?

"Fred… I can't. Just—can't you let me be?"

"No. This isn't you."

_And no one could know that better than you. _

But maybe she would rather be someone else—anyone else—but her, if it meant the slimmest chance to escape.

A blue butterfly flew in from the open window and landed on her finger.

_You can't resist when you have paper thin wings._

"I…" Hearing her own voice sounded strange. "I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?"

"You." The book fell from her arms. "I don't want you to leave. I don't want us to stop… being us. I just wanted everything to be the same. But it's not."

"Katie… why didn't you just say so?"

Something inside her shattered, and she burst into tears. Fred wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She buried her face in his chest. "I just couldn't—it… everything's different now."

"I'm still me and you're still you and we're still us. How is that any different?"

Katie held onto him like he was her lifeline. "It already is."

"I'm sorry."

She rested her head on his shoulder, she felt so small in his arms.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Katie whispered.

"Because all along I was the one hurting you."

"No… I did it to myself."

"Well I'm not leaving you Katie. Maybe it seems like it, but nothing's going to change. We _are _still us, and that doesn't ever have to change."

. . . .

Sherry sat next to Danny on his bed. "Hey. Wendy didn't do her translations and Ben's somewhere with Taryn. So it's just the two of us."

"Cool." Danny reached for the green notebook on his bed. "I wrote a new song."

"Ooh! What kind of song?"

"It's for you."

Sherry blushed. "Okay. Can't wait to hear it."

She leaned over to see the words on the page, but didn't get a chance to read ahead. She swayed to the guitar melody.

_I remember what you wore on that first day  
You came into my life and I thought hey,  
You know this could be something  
'Cause everything you do and words you say  
You know that it all takes my breath away  
And now I'm left with nothing_

Sherry couldn't help smiling as Danny sang the chorus. Her heart beat faster and she closed her eyes to let the music clear her mind of everything but him.

_Well maybe it's true,  
That I can't live with you  
Maybe two Is better than one  
There's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
And you've already got me coming undone  
I'm thinking two is better than one_

_I remember every look upon your face  
The way you roll your eyes, the way you laugh  
You make it hard for breathing  
And when I close my eyes and drift away  
I think of you and everything's okay  
I'm finally now believing_

Danny grinned at her and Sherry joined into the chorus, adding her clear and beautiful soprano voice to harmonize.

_That maybe it's true  
I can't live without you  
And maybe two is better than one  
But there's so much time  
To figure out the rest of my life  
And you've already got me coming undone  
I'm thinking two is better than one_

Sherry pulled the notebook closer to sing the bridge.

_I remember what you said on that first day  
You came into my life and we thought hey  
You never know what might happen_

Sherry stopped singing and let Danny finish the song.

_I know it's true that I can't live without you  
And baby two is better than one  
There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life  
And I've figured out that all is said and done  
Two is better than one._

Danny set down his guitar. "So, what do you think?"

Sherry smiled. "I think you should just shut up and kiss me."

_**That last section was one of the scenes I planned from the beginning of the story ^^**_

_**Drama is winding down... and you know what that means.**_

_**Reviews please :) I love all you people who always do!  
**_


	23. Into Dust

The Truth About Love- Chapter 23

_**I want to thank Olivia, LayRay, , XxrandomxX, and Potted Lilies for your reviews :) Kayla your review was SUPER AWESOME and this chapter is for you... although I apologize because this is the cheesy chapter and I suck at writing this part...  
**_

Angelina leaned over the chair and wrapped her arms around Fred. "Hey."

Fred looked up. "Hey."

Angelina sat in the seat opposite him. "We haven't talked in a long time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Everything alright?"

_Real deep conversation… _Angelina thought sarcastically to herself. Of course, she should have known this wouldn't be easy. Since when was Fred going to make it simple for her?

"Everything's well… okay I guess." Angelina sighed and stared out the window, in what she hoped was a credible imitation of being extremely _un_happy.

"What's wrong?" There were no twirling, swirly comments that they conversations had lately taken to. It was just a simple question that got to the point. Sometimes she liked that about him, and sometimes it bothered her.

She shrugged. "It's nothing… I guess. I mean it's not that important."

"It doesn't matter, just say it."

Her eyes didn't meet his. She was afraid that if she did she might forget what she was going to say or break character. "Well… it's just that the ball is in two weeks and I haven't been asked yet so… I'm not sure if I even really want to go. Alicia still wants me to buy the dress and everything, but I don't know… it's not really my thing."

"Come on Ange, you're worried about a _dance. _What happened to my Angelina?"

_She got lost looking for you._

Angelina shrugged. "I'm… never mind."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it mattered so much to you."

"It's not…" _the dance that matters, it's you. _"Um I should go. We're going shopping for dresses." Angelina got up and left the common room.

. . . .

Katie looked out the window of the common room and smiled.

Through the portrait hole, down the spiral stairs, and out the giant oak doors she went until she reached the school courtyard. The iron gate was swinging open and she snuck up behind Andrei, who looked deep in thought.

"Hey!" She jumped on his back and giggled. "Didn't see me huh?"

"Hey, what happened to you?" Andrei asked. "You're… _you _again."

Katie tilted her head and smiled. "What do you mean?"

"Everything about you… it's different." Andrei said.

The curls in her hair were bouncy, her eyes brightened with a lively light, and her smile back on her face, which seemed to glow. She was wearing a bright pink ruffled shirt, which was a big splash of color compared to her previous record of wearing dull and dark colors to match her mood.

"Well, I feel different." Katie said, fingering the elaborate designs on the gate. She smiled. "I feel like me again."

Andrei grinned. "That's good to know. I missed you."

Katie turned and threw her arms around him, catching him by surprise. "Thank you." She said. "Thanks Andrei."

"For what?" He said, looking confused.

"You were there when the rest of the world walked out. You're a real friend. For that, thank you."

Andrei smiled, but gray clouded over his silver flecked eyes. "You don't have to thank me, I'd do anything for you."

Katie smiled, completely missing the point. "You're the best." She giggled and twirled around before running off towards the valley in the Forbidden Forest where they had last met. She was halfway down when she finally turned around. "Are you coming?"

Andrei looked up from the random spot in the distance he had been staring intently at while thinking. "Yeah." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

_You're the best._

"I guess the best wasn't good enough."

. . . .

"Has he asked you?" Caroline asked, holding up a blue dress to Angelina, and then throwing it into the growing pile in her arms.

"No…" Angelina said, staggering slightly under the weight of forty or so dresses.

"Hm… we'll have to do something about that." Caroline said, taking a purple dress off the rack and checking the size.

Angelina followed, the pile of dresses nearly obscuring her view ahead. "Maybe I should try on these dresses first…"

"Good idea. We need to find you the _perfect _dress." Caroline hurried her over to a dressing room and then began to look at the shoes on the display cases next to the dressing rooms. "Have you talked to him?"

"Yes." Angelina said, unzipping a silver dress made of what looked like thousands of tiny sequins strung together. "Right before we left. I left him major hints, but he didn't get it."

Caroline picked up a pair of red peep toe heels. "No… Fred's smart, he probably knows and wants to make you wait a while."

Angelina made a face and shimmied into the tiny dress. "Haven't I waited long enough?" Deciding that she did not like the dress, she stepped out of it before zipping it off and tried on the purple one.

"You know guys." Caroline said.

"No, I don't." Angelina zipped up the purple dress.

Caroline reached up for a pair of green platform heels and the put them back. "Fred will ask you to the ball. You just have to stop hinting at it. And I think Fred probably wants it to be some kind of surprise. You know him."

_No. I don't. _Angelina pushed open the dressing room door so the girls could see her in the dress.

Tina, Kim, and Jillian simultaneously said, "No."

"No, violet's not your color." Tina explained.

"It has a tutu for heaven's sake!" Jillian exclaimed.

"Try on the gold one." Caroline suggested. "I found a really cute pair of heels to go with it." She held up a pair of gold pumps with tiny red stone embellishments.

Angelina retreated into the dressing room and threw the purple dress onto the chair and extracted the gold dress from the large pile.

If only everything could be solved by trying on something else.

. . . .

Alicia stood in front of the iron gate to the courtyard.

George was standing by the brook with his back facing her. His hands were in his pockets and his fiery red hair was blowing lightly in the wind. He was wearing a soft navy blue shirt that stretched across the muscles in his chest and faded blue jeans.

Alicia unlatched the gate and slowly crossed the fields of flowers to his side.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hey." He replied softly.

"George…" Alicia bit her lip.

He was the one who wanted her to meet him, but she felt a sense of dread. What did he have to say? And why couldn't he have said it to her before? Why _now? _She couldn't begin to fathom the things he could say. George was not a person with boundaries, there were no expectations for him, no typical reaction. With anyone else she could have some idea what was coming, but George, George was a mystery to her.

"Are you…" She closed her eyes hoping to muster the courage inside her, but failed. "Are you okay?" She said abruptly, changing the entire meaning of what she had wanted to say.

George turned to face her, his expression calm, but behind that his eyes conveyed something completely different. "I guess I'm alright." He said, in a voice that clearly expressed the very opposite.

"No, really." Alicia turned so she faced him. "I thought we'd been through this before. You have to be honest with me. How do you _really _feel?"

"You really want the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't _you _start by being honest? You never tell _me _how you feel."

Alicia hesitated. This was not where she had wanted the conversation to go. What happened to _him _being the one that wanted to talk to _her_? "I'm sorry. It's just so hard for me. I don't know what the truth is anymore and it's getting harder to find. It used to be so easy to know what I _know_, what I wanted, how I felt. I used to know myself. I used to know you."

"Is that how you feel? Like you don't know me?"

"No!" Alicia mentally kicked herself. "It's not that… I just… I… I don't know how I _feel _about… _us._ I mean what are we? We couldn't handle being friends, I don't know if we're anything more, I don't know if we can ever _be _anything more! I don't even know who I am, or what I want from us… it's just so complicated!"

"Wait, what do you mean? I'm—"

"I _don't know._" Alicia said. "I don't know anything and I don't think you could if I asked you all the questions I wanted to."

George seemed thrown back by her sudden outbursts.

Alicia was exasperated. Why was nothing easy?

"Look, I know you're not going to say it, I've given you more than enough chances. Maybe that's a sign, but I'm not listening to anyone else anymore. I love you. But I'm not going to wait for you anymore. I can't be Kitoko and I'm not Harmony." Saying the truth was supposed to have lifted weight off of her shoulders, but now it settled in her heart. "And I know you won't love me for that, maybe you just _can't."_

A look flickered across his face. He was conflicted. Broken. Torn. Hurt.

"Alicia." His voice was broken as if what she said was true, but he was so in denial that he couldn't see he was walking blindly through thorns.

"It's okay." Alicia said. "It's okay."

George looked away. "What do you mean?"

"It means…" Alicia blinked back tears in her eyes.

_I can't do this. _

_I can't even breathe without him._

_So how can I leave him?_

Overhead the sky darkened several shades until it was a gloomy blanket of gray. Thunder clapped and was followed by flashes of lightning. With every rumble of thunder and bolt of lightning things darkened until finally the whole world seemed to turn black. For the longest moment, everything was plunged in darkness and Alicia saw no way out of what she had gotten herself into. Everywhere she looked everything seemed to approach closer to her until she felt like she might suffocate.

Torrents of icy rain fell upon them, and soon the soothing coolness turned into stings. In a matter of seconds they were drenched, and within the next, ice frosted over their skin and formed ice crystals in their hair, forever freezing them in this moment. Through flashes of lightning she saw him, but every time he seemed farther away. With each torrent of rain and gust of wind she felt like she was being forced away. And by the time thunder struck again she had already made up her mind.

"George, I hate to do this, I really do, but I have to."

_I have to learn how to be without you._

He said nothing, maybe he had already seen this coming. She had no way of knowing how he felt, it was difficult enough trying to explain her own feelings.

She was walking away from everything that she had built up from the first day.

She was leaving behind what could have been a happy ending.

_What could have been._

With all the broken pieces of her heart she wanted to stay, but when the glass was smashed into dust what would be left of her?

No one was defending her, so she had to speak up for herself. All she needed was for him to say it.

_Say no. Make me stop. Tell me you want me to stay with you and I'll stay. Just do something. _

She waited.

For several minutes Alicia stood in place. She gave him another of a thousand chances. Around them the rest of the world was moving twice as fast, but it couldn't affect them. Time seemed to freeze as seconds passed by with no words, no action, no thought. They seemed to leave the world behind, spinning as usual, while they stood in openness of nothing, waiting for an answer.

But in the end nothing would save them from the fallout.

As the ice lacerated up to her heart, Alicia realized that there was no way into him, all she could do was try and find her way out. And even then, the mangled pieces of her heart might never be stitched together. In glimpses, she saw what could have been of them. And she saw what _had _been.

Yet she turned away from it all.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, an inaudible plea carried away by the wind. "I am so, so sorry. But this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

She turned around to leave.

Then, something inside him was stimulated by her sudden departure. He took her by the hand, held her in his arms and kissed her. The moment they made contact suddenly things fell into place and she realized that what could have been—what had been impossible before—it was all within reach now.

. . . .

Katie giggled. "I love the rain."

Lightning flashed and Andrei saw her twirling in the rain, her hair flying and arms spread out. Her laughter rang out clearer than the thunder.

"Dance with me!" She grabbed his hand.

He spun her around. Katie laughed and rested her head on his chest.

"I can actually be _me _when I'm with you."

"I love you, Katie."

Katie looked up at him. Lightning flashed and for a brief second she saw his golden amber eyes.

Again, the world was plunged into darkness, but suddenly she backed against the gate and felt his kiss penetrate within her to spark a fire inside.

. . . .

"Has he asked you yet?" Katie asked, sitting on her bed, toweling her hair dry. She was wearing pink sweatpants and three jackets.

"No." Angelina tapped her fingers on Katie's dresser.

"He will." Katie pointed her wand to her hair and giggled as hot air blew it dry. "Alicia taught me that."

"Caroline said that too. But she's also the one who suggested I wear a violet dress that had a tutu."

Katie laughed and put a headband in her hair before heading downstairs to the common room with Angelina in tow, still wondering if Fred was going to ask her and what color dress she was going to wear.

"I was just going to wear black, but Alicia said that only people who think they look fat should wear black and only if they can't pull off another color so I decided maybe I won't wear black." Angelina continued. "What color are you wearing?"

"Blue." Katie said, sitting down in her favorite chair.

Across the common room the Gryffindor boys were all grouped together discussing the ball and their various dates. Angelina spotted Fred talking to Ron and Harry, both of whom looked extremely nervous. Katie laughed, they knew he was probably making things sound worse than they actually were just to tease them.

"Hey, Katie!" Tanner McKay, a seventh year with famed good looks called out. "Wanna be my date?"

Katie blushed. "I'm going with someone… sorry."

Tanner shrugged. "It's cool."

"That was Tanner McKay." Kim said. "_Tanner McKay. _Exactly _who _are you going with? I don't know about you but I would have said yes in a heartbeat."

"Oh my god have you seen his eyes? Like close up? They're like… amazing. Absolutely indescribable, like hazelish, but not really even hazel, just like a softened green-blue with gray. And call me shallow but have you _seen _him take his shirt off?" Caroline gushed. "So Katie, who are you going with?"

"I'm going with Andrei." Katie said, giggling.

Caroline gasped dramatically. Jillian and Tina exchanged looks. "Andrei? That hot Bulgarian guy?"

"Um… yes."

Katie was spared from Caroline's inquisition when Alicia and George burst into the common room. Everyone turned to see, as they were soaking wet, laughing loudly, and holding hands. The girls all stared open-mouthed and the guys paused for a moment.

"What?" Alicia said.

The whole room burst into applause and Tanner McKay wolf-whistled. There were shouts of 'It's about time!' and all the girls ran up to hug Alicia and demand for the details.

"Tell me everything!" Katie said, perched on the arm of Alicia's chair.

"Well… there's not much to tell." Alicia said, smiling and clearly enjoying her moment. "Everything just finally fell into place."

Caroline's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Alicia. Please. We want the _details_."

"Well." Alicia smirked. "I don't kiss and tell."

The girls gasped and began to talk over each other as they asked questions. What exactly did he say? So then what did _she _say? Was he a good kisser? Did she feel like she might float off into the clouds? Details?

After three different retellings Angelina grew tired of the same story and was about to fight her way through the girls to the stairs when Fred called out her name.

"Hey, Angelina!"

All the girls, Alicia included, stopped abruptly and turned to watch him.

"Yeah?" Angelina said coolly, turning around calmly. Somehow with everything falling into place for Katie and Andrei, and George and Alicia she believed that maybe this was a chance for her to put the pieces together.

"Wanna go to the ball with me?"

There was a loud chorus of 'Oh my god!' and 'Finally!' from the girls who all squealed with excitement and shouted out 'She will!' Angelina laughed and felt like she just might float into the clouds.

"I guess I will."

_**I wanted to make the George and Alicia part better, because I had been imagining that scene for like EVER, but I don't have time and I have to study for Biology :(**_

_**It was supposed to be kind of based on the song Breathe by Taylor Swift, where she had to leave him even thoguh she loved him.**_

_**So um... wasn't my best chapter... but it won't be my last!**_

_**Review are nice :)  
**_


	24. The End

The Truth About Love- Chapter 24

_**This is the official END. I want to thank everyone who has ever reviewed this story! **_

Sherry sat on the arm of Danny's favorite chair in the common room.

She ran her fingers through Danny hair and trailed her finger along his red shirt. Last night he had fallen asleep in the common room doing homework. And as for Sherry, she was the first person awake in the Ravenclaw tower. She looked intently at the designs on the carved windows, lightly stained with color. As the first rays of light filtered through the glass, the room was graced with rainbows and colored light.

Next to her, Danny opened his eyes, but she was unaware. Her hand rested on his hair and she was completely still. Perched on the arm of his chair, her knees were pulled up to her chest. Sherry's long, wavy strawberry blond hair cascaded down to the middle of her back and shone in the sunlight. As the sun began to rise, a golden orange halo glowed around her.

"You're beautiful." Danny whispered.

Sherry turned to face him and smiled. "No, I'm not. I mean Taryn's pretty, Katie's cute, and Alicia's beautiful, but I'm just me."

"No, I think you're beautiful. But I still love you for you."

Sherry gave him a real smile and threw her arms around him. "I've loved you since I was twelve."

"I didn't know it, but I've loved you since I met you. I was just blind." Danny put his arms around her.

Sherry rested her head on his chest. "It doesn't matter, I had eyes only for you."

. . . .

"Be happy." Angelina said, flopping down on the couch in the common room.

"I have you, I already am happy." Fred answered.

"Well I'm wearing a _dress _to the ball for you." Angelina said, making a face at the idea of wearing a dress.

"You're going to look beautiful no matter what."

"You haven't seen the dress." Angelina said, shaking her head. "Alicia made me promise that I'd let her have full control over what I wear and she's going all out."

"Exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

"She's got the dress, shoes, hair pieces, hairstyle, accessories, she's even decided what shampoo I have to use to get my hair to style… and oh it's horrible."

"No spoilers!" Alicia yelled from above the stairs. "Don't even tell him the color or anything, it's a surprise."

Angelina made a face. "It's definitely going to be a surprise alright. If you don't recognize me… maybe that's best because I'm going to look ridiculous."

"You will not." Fred reassured her. "I can't wait to see you."

Angelina checked the clock and groaned. "Ugh, I better go. Alicia demands that we're ready at exactly three to begin make overs… and I don't even want to know what she's going to do."

Fred looked surprised. "Four hours to get ready?"

"You obviously do not know Alicia, the entire room has been remodeled for 'Official Yule Ball Prep' and it looks like Twilfit and Tattings inside of a beauty salon."

"Sounds like fun."

Alicia and Katie yelled from above the stairs, "ANGELINA!"

"That's my cue." Angelina sighed. "I'll see you at the ball… if you still recognize me."

Fred grinned. "I can always find you."

. . . .

"Be proud of me." Alicia said.

"Not until you show me to a mirror." Wendy said.

Alicia had covered all the mirrors so they couldn't see what they looked like. This was a necessary precaution because she knew Wendy and Angelina would have thrown tantrums if they were to see the result of their makeovers.

"Alright." Alicia said, waving her wand. The black screen over the mirrors was instantly lifted and several full length ones appeared in front of them. "I think I did a pretty good job, considering I had to coordinate five outfits, hairstyles, shoes, accessories, and all in four hours."

"I love it!" Sherry said.

She was wearing a strapless, floor length dress the color of strawberry ice cream. She disliked the matching shoes, and wore instead, a pair of glittering glass heels. Her red-gold hair was curled into ringlets and pinned up elegantly with dozens of small pins with sparkling pink flowers on them so that every way she turned; she glittered and showered small rainbows everywhere. Tendrils of hair framed her face, which although not breathtakingly beautiful, was pretty in a sweet and pure way.

"Turn." Alicia said.

Sherry slowly turned twice, glittering and sparkling every time she moved.

"Oh Sherry you look like a fairytale princess!" Katie exclaimed.

"Which reminds me…" Alicia said. "I decided that we all need a statement accessory and Sherry, I found the perfect one for you."

From the top drawer of her vanity dresser she carefully took out a tiara, studded with tiny pink, purple, and clear diamond-like jewels.

Sherry's eyes widened with wonder. "Oh my god, Alicia, that's beautiful!"

Katie took it from Alicia's hands and put it on Sherry. "Danny is one lucky guy."

Sherry blushed, her cheeks turning the matching shade of pink as her dress. "I think I'm luckier."

"That's cute, but can we please get on with it?" Wendy asked impatiently.

Wendy was wearing a forest green bubble dress that showed off her long, toned and evenly tanned legs. In exchange for willingly wearing the dress Alicia and Sherry picked, she was allowed to wear her Converse high tops (which Katie wanted to Bedazzle and Wendy bluntly refused). Sherry had straightened her normally wavy hair so that her chocolate brown hair shone lustrously and felt silky to the touch, which Wendy had thrown into a ponytail.

"You're lucky you got to pick your own shoes and hairstyle." Angelina said darkly.

"Yes, but you look amazing!" Katie said.

"Okay, let's get this over with, and show me the statement piece already…" Wendy said, looking as though she were being forced to jump off a bridge.

Alicia held up a necklace with an intricate design of gold links and green stones all interconnected and dangling from one another to create a chandelier effect. "But don't worry, I knew you were probably going to cry if I made you wear this, so you can balance it out with these earrings." She held up a pair of earrings with a lime green smiley face parodied by a frowny face.

"That's so cute!" Katie said. "Put them on!"

Wendy put the earrings on and reluctantly let Sherry clasp the necklace on. "At least I have the irony thing going."

"More than I do anyways." Angelina said, crossing her arms. "I wish I got to pick my own shoes."

Her shoes were strappy gold stilettos with red stone embellishments. They perfectly complemented her dress, a floor length strapless that looked like a Russian ball gown. It was wine red with a delicate corset design stitched in gold that created an attractive curve in Angelina's athletic figure. Alicia had performed a tricky spell to make her straight hair wavy and put it in a messy upswept bun with pieces of hair waved to different lengths framing her face. To finish off the image of perfection, Alicia put two pearl studded combs in her hair as her statement accessories.

"You look good!" Wendy exclaimed. "You don't need the irony, you look amazing!"

"I look overdone!" Angelina argued.

"You do not!" Katie assured her. "I wish I looked as pretty as you did."

"You look way better than I do!"

"I don't think so…"

Katie's look was collaborated with Alicia, who insisted on choosing the dress, but allowed her to choose the color and do everything else herself. The dress was light blue, a cross between the transparent blue of rain and sky blue. Strapless and ending just above the knee, it showed more skin than she was comfortable with. Her shoes were silver peep toe pumps with sequins and rhinestones. She had left her hair the way it was, mostly straight with waves at the bottom and layers framing her heart-shaped face secured with a blue and silver headband.

"Well I do." Angelina said stubbornly. "You got to wear what you wanted to."

Katie wrinkled her nose. "I did _not _choose this dress. If it were up to me I would be wearing Sherry's dress or Alicia's dress."

"Okay, I know you don't like the dress because it shows off how pretty you are. Fine. But you're going to love this." Alicia held up what looked like an extremely long necklace.

"Um, what is that?" Wendy asked.

"It's kind of like a belt." Alicia said. "It was really hard to find one that was tiny enough to fit around your waist so I just shrank it."

Katie looked at it curiously. A silver chain made of tiny, tiny, silver links had even more little chains of various length stringing off of it with blue glass stones perfectly cut into identical oval sizes. Tiny flecks of gold were placed inside the glass stones and sparkled. There was a tiny catch on the end ends that clasped together and with a few spells managed to fit perfectly on Katie's small waist.

She twirled around. "I like it!"

"Yeah your dress was a big plain and I knew you wouldn't go for make up or hair so I decided I needed to liven up that dress." Alicia said.

"It's so pretty!" Katie exclaimed. "Wait, what's your accessory?"

Alicia was a vision in white. She wore a white dress that was formfitting on the top and from the waist erupted into a wide skirt that trailed to the floor entirely made of of chiffon roses. The top hemline and two straps that fell just past her shoulders were the same white chiffon roses. Each flower's center was a clear diamond like jewel that twinkled at every tiny movement she made. Her golden curls were pinned up with bejeweled pins and her make-up was barely there, simply silver eyeliner and light lipstick.

"I was thinking about a bouquet." Sherry said with a giggle.

"What about fairy wings?" Katie suggested.

"How about a flying carriage while we're at that?" Wendy said dryly.

"Not quite." Alicia said. "I was thinking about this." She took a clip with a cluster of three small chiffon roses, the same as the ones on her dress, and pinned it to the right side of her hair. "What do you think?"

"Amazing." Katie said. "You look the best! I mean Sherry's a princess, Angelina's like some kind of queen and you're like what every girl wishes she looked on her wedding day!"

Alicia smiled. "We should go."

. . . .

The castle courtyard had been completely transformed for the ball. The iron gate stood taller than the trees and was decorated with colored tinsels and bells. The courtyard had been cleared to make room for dozens of tables, each seated for ten with bright flowers in the center and gleaming silverware. In the center of it all was the large dance floor where the Weird Sisters played. The night sky had already darkened to pitch black and was studded with stars. Suspended in midair were clusters of brightly colored orbs that cast a soft multi-colored glow similar to the effect of a candle.

Two and a half hours into the ball the band finally played their first slow song and the group split into their individual pairs.

Alicia and George stayed in the center of the dance floor, where a giant spotlight focused in on them.

Alicia rested her head on his chest and smiled. "I've always wanted this. The spotlight dance. And to be with you."

"What's so special about the spotlight? It's not like anyone's really paying attention."

"I don't know. My muggle cousin used to go on about it and she's one of the pretty people who gets everything she wants in life and I guess I just wanted that special moment too."

George laughed. "You don't realize that you _are _special. You're perfect the way you are."

Alicia blushed. "How can I believe that?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"I just think it's hard to believe."

"Well, maybe I should give you something real to believe in."

He leaned forward and kissed her. The kind of kiss that made her head spin, her heart stop, and her mind explode into fireworks.

. . . .

"You two are missing out on a lot of fun." Katie said, kicking her shoes under the table. "What are you doing in the forest anyways?"

Ben and Taryn just smiled mysteriously. "Oh, nothing." Taryn said nonchalantly, reaching for a slice of cake. "So um why aren't you all dancing?"

"Taking a break." Angelina said. "These shoes are killing me."

"I don't like this song. I'm just waiting until it's over." Alicia said as the Weird Sisters sang the second chorus.

"They've only played like three slow songs." Sherry said. "They're not very good either."

Danny shrugged. "They're okay."

"Besides we already know your voice rivals any other." Wendy said. "Just let them keep pretending."

Sherry laughed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Alright, I think it's time we slowed things down again." The lead Sister announced. "It's time to switch partners and we're asking the ladies to ask someone they have not danced with yet."

Wendy got up. "Well I think I better go get the cute guys before the pretty girls get in the way."

Sherry and Danny started on a slice of cake. George had already turned down two girls as Alicia got comfortable in his lap. Angelina began to take the combs out of her hair, looking in no hurry to dance.

Fred and Katie turned to each other. He extended his hand and pulled Katie off her chair. "Let's dance."

Katie laughed. She took a few running steps, did a ballet jump and landed on her toes before spinning around and linking both arms behind his neck.

"Sure Angelina won't be mad?" She asked.

"She knows us only second best to each other. I think it's safe to say she's alright with it." He said. "There is one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot." Katie said.

"I get the feeling that there's something you won't tell me. I just wanted to know what that is."

Katie nodded. "Okay, one question in turn."

"Go."

"Do you love me?"

"Yes." Fred looked confused. "You know that."

"Well that was it." Katie said. "I know that I just didn't always understand."

"Understand what?"

"That I could love you more than anyone and still be your friend."

. . . .

The end of the ball approached too soon, and Angelina soon found herself enjoying the last dance.

"I can't believe this is it." Angelina said.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know this ball would be so much fun even though I had to wear this ridiculous dress. Although I'm glad I did because all the girls look so pretty."

"You could have worn jeans and a t-shirt and still been the most beautiful." Fred reasoned.

"That's a lie." Angelina said.

"Why would I lie?"

"Because I am _not _beautiful. I mean there's Alicia and Sherry and Katie and Caroline."

"So?"

"I still don't believe it. Tell me something I can actually believe in."

"That's easy." Fred smiled. "I love you."

_**And they lived happily ever after.**_

_**Well until JKR decided that it was necessary to kill off Fred.**_

_**Anyways, this is the end of this story. I'll definitely be writing more, I'm just not sure if it's going to be a sequel, but I'll be sure to let everyone know when it's up :)  
**_


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